Pentagon Signs AI Deals, Snubs Anthropic

The U.S. Defense Department has awarded AI procurement contracts to seven companies, including Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, SpaceX, and startup Reflection AI. The contracts cover AI products for classified military systems, accessible through the Pentagon's internal GenAI.mil portal, which has over 1.3 million users. Notably excluded is Anthropic, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated a supply chain risk in March after the company refused to allow Claude to be used for all lawful purposes, citing concerns over surveillance and autonomous weapons. Anthropic has filed suit to challenge the designation.