Pentagon strikes classified AI deals with OpenAI, Google, and Nvidia — but not Anthropic

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Follow Follow See All Policy Pentagon strikes classified AI deals with OpenAI, Google, and Nvidia — but not Anthropic The flurry of deals leaves out Anthropic, which the department previously used for handling classified information. The flurry of deals leaves out Anthropic, which the department previously used for handling classified information. by Emma Roth Close Emma Roth News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

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Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth May 1, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC Link Share Gift Photo by Saul Loeb / via Getty Images Part Of Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: killer robots, mass surveillance, and red lines see all updates Emma Roth Close Emma Roth Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more.

Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. The Pentagon has struck deals with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Elon Musk’s xAI, and the startup Reflection, allowing the agency to use their AI tools in classified settings, according to an announcement on Friday . At the same time, the Defense Department has left out Anthropic — which it previously used for classified information — after declaring it a supply-chain risk.

This builds upon deals with OpenAI and xAI , which have already reached agreements with the Pentagon for the “lawful” use of their AI systems. A report from The Information suggests Google has struck a similar agreement . As noted by The Wall Street Journal , Microsoft and Amazon already have “deep relationships with the Pentagon,” while contracts with Nvidia and Reflection are new.

And while Anthropic had a $200 million deal to handle classified materials for the Pentagon, it refused to loosen “red lines” around mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons for the agency, leading to a dispute that banned the AI startup’s products from the federal government. Anthropic sued the federal government in response and won a temporary injunction. Related Anthropic doesn’t want its AI killing people unsupervised.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.