Trump administration, Anthropic may be close to deal on Pentagon standoff

Daniel HowleyTue, April 21, 2026 at 2:02 PM UTC

0

President Trump signaled that the US government may be preparing a deal to end its ongoing standoff with AI leader Anthropic (ANTH.PVT). During an interview with CNBC, Trump said Anthropic representatives met with him in the White House “a few days ago” and that he believes the government will “get along with them just fine.”

Trump said it’s possible a deal will be made, because he “wants the smartest people,” but noted that the government has replaced Anthropic with OpenAI.

Dario Amodei, CEO and Co-Founder of Anthropic attends the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman (Reuters / REUTERS)

The blowup between the company and the government came after Anthropic told the Department of Defense that it wouldn't allow the department to use its AI models for the mass surveillance of Americans or to develop fully autonomous weapons.

Advertisement

The government then shot back, labeling Anthropic a supply chain threat, which would force government contractors that use the company’s software to abandon it for any government work.

And while Anthropic won a temporary reprieve from the designation in a federal court in California, it still faces a fight in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals over the grounds for the government’s efforts.

Anthropic already works with the DOD, and reports say the Pentagon used the company's technology during its operation in Venezuela in January and in the current conflict with Iran.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Money”