The US military reportedly utilized Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, to guide its attack on Iran despite Donald Trump’s decision, announced just hours earlier, to cut all ties with the company and its AI tools. The Wall Street Journal and Axios reported that Claude was employed during the extensive joint US-Israel strike on Iran that began on Saturday. This highlights the challenge of the US military withdrawing advanced AI tools from its operations when the technology has become deeply integrated into mission activities. According to the Journal, US military leadership used Claude for intelligence purposes, target selection, and conducting battlefield simulations. On Friday, only hours before the Iran attack started, Trump ordered all federal agencies to immediately cease use of Claude. He condemned Anthropic on Truth Social as a “Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about. ” This heated dispute was ignited by the US military’s use of Claude during its January raid aimed at capturing Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Anthropic protested, citing its terms of use prohibiting Claude’s application for violent purposes, weapon development, or surveillance. Since that incident, relations between Trump, the Pentagon, and Anthropic have deteriorated steadily.

In a detailed post on X on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Anthropic of “arrogance and betrayal, ” adding that “America’s warfighters will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech. ” Hegseth demanded full and unrestricted access to all of Anthropic’s AI models for any lawful uses. However, he also acknowledged the difficulty of rapidly detaching military systems from the AI tool, given its extensive adoption. He noted that Anthropic would continue providing services “for a period of no more than six months to allow for a seamless transition to a better and more patriotic service. ” Following the split with Anthropic, rival company OpenAI has filled the gap. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, stated he had reached an agreement with the Pentagon to deploy the company’s tools, including ChatGPT, within its classified network.