Pentagon signs AI contracts with eight tech companies, excludes Anthropic over safety dispute

The Department of Defense announced on May 1 that it reached agreements with SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, and Reflection AI to deploy their AI tools on classified military networks. Anthropic was formally excluded after the Pentagon labeled it a supply chain risk in March 2026, following a contract dispute over Anthropic's insistence on safety guardrails for military use of AI in warfare. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei an ideological lunatic in congressional testimony. Anthropic, valued at approximately $900 billion, is contesting the designation in court. The DoD noted its GenAI.mil platform serves 1.3 million Defense Department users. The companies' AI tools will be used for lawful operational use.