March 3, 2026: WASHINGTON (AP) — Anthropic’s moral stand on U.S. military use of artificial intelligence is reshaping the competition between leading AI companies but also exposing a growing awareness that maybe chatbots just aren’t capable enough for acts of war. Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude , for the first time outpaced its better-known rival ChatGPT in phone app downloads in the United States this week, a signal of growing interest from consumers siding with Anthropic in its standoff with the Pentagon. But while many military and human rights experts have applauded Amodei for standing up for ethical principles, some are also frustrated by years of AI industry marketing that persuaded the government to apply AI on high-stakes tasks.   Feb. 28, 2026: WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic technology after the company’s unusually public dispute with the Pentagon over artificial intelligence safety. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said Friday (Feb. 27, 2026) he was designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk, a move that could prevent U.S. military vendors from working with the company. Trump’s comments Friday came just before the Pentagon’s deadline for Anthropic to allow unrestricted military use of its AI technology or face consequences. Anthropic says it will challenge the supply risk designation in court.   Feb. 27, 2026: WASHINGTON (AP) — A public showdown between the Trump administration and Anthropic is hitting an impasse as military officials demand the artificial intelligence company bend its ethical policies by Friday (Feb. 27, 2026) or risk damaging its business. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei drew a sharp red line 24 hours before the deadline, declaring his company “cannot in good conscience accede” to the Pentagon’s final demands to allow unrestricted use of its technology. Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude, can likely afford losing a defense contract. But the ultimatum this week from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posed broader risks at the peak of the company’s meteoric rise from a little-known computer science research lab in San Francisco to one of the world’s most valuable startups.   Feb. 26, 2026: WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pressuring Anthropic to give the military broader access to its artificial intelligence technology or lose its Pentagon contract. Hegseth gave Anthropic’s CEO a Friday (Feb. 27, 2026) deadline to open its AI tech for unrestricted military use or risk losing its government contract. That’s according to a person familiar with their meeting who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. Hegseth met Tuesday with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, whose company makes the chatbot Claude and remains the last of its peers to not supply its technology to a new U.S. military internal network. The Defense Department hasn’t commented. ...read more read less