- The US government has labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk.
- Anthropic says it will challenge the decision in court
- Claude users should not be affected, and usage numbers have increased
The US government has officially designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk due to the artificial intelligence company’s unwillingness to sign an intelligence agreement with the Pentagon, a move Anthropic plans to challenge in court.
In an official blog post, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei described the decision as “legally flawed.” It follows a turbulent week of reaction to Anthropic’s decision to walk away from partnership discussions with the US military, over concerns around mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
A company is declared a supply chain risk when US authorities believe that doing business with that company would compromise national security. It is the first time that an American company has officially received this label.
The move shouldn’t have much effect on Claude users: As Amodei says, the supply chain risk designation “exists to protect the government rather than punish a supplier” and doesn’t cover anything outside of official government use.
An increase in users
More than a million people register on Claude every day. To all who choose to make @claudeai part of the way they work and think: welcome.March 5, 2026
While Anthropic and the White House try to resolve their differences (and there are some signs that a deal could still be signed with the Pentagon), Claude is enjoying a healthy increase in users, perhaps due to his ethical stance on AI in the military.
According to Anthropic’s Mike Kreiger, more than a million people sign up for Claude every day. Claude does not publish its user numbers, but was thought to have around 20 million monthly active users at the beginning of the year.
A significant proportion of those newcomers could be fleeing ChatGPT. Its developer OpenAI signed a deal with the US military after Anthropic pulled out, a move that received a wave of criticism from ChatGPT users.
Based on a leaked internal memo, Anthropic’s Amodei believes the ChatGPT deal is primarily “security theater,” and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself described it as “rushed.” More from this story is likely to emerge in the coming days.
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