Trump Says Anthropic “Looking Good,” Open to Pentagon Deal
U.S. President Trump said on Tuesday that Anthropic is “looking good” in his administration’s eyes, opening the door for the artificial intelligence company to reverse its blacklisting by the Pentagon. Trump directed the government to halt cooperation with Anthropic in February. The Pentagon subsequently announced the company posed supply chain risks, dealing a major blow to the AI lab after a standoff over guidelines for how the military would use its AI tools.
The company contested the designation and sued the Defense Department in March over the finding.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with White House officials last week in an attempt to mend fences. The White House described the meeting as productive and constructive.
“They came to the White House a few days ago, and we had some very good talks with them. I think they’re looking good. They’re very smart people, and I think they’re going to be very useful. I like smart people. I think we’re going to get along very well with them,” Trump said Tuesday.
When asked if a deal with the Pentagon was imminent, Trump said, “It’s possible. We want the smartest people.”
Anthropic, when asked for comment, pointed to its statement from Friday, which said its White House meeting was productive and focused on how the two sides could “collaborate on key shared priorities such as cybersecurity, U.S. leadership in the AI race, and AI safety.”
Experts say the thaw in relations comes weeks after Anthropic unveiled its most advanced AI tool, Mythos, which may have unprecedented capabilities to identify and design methods to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Anthropic said a preview of Claude Mythos would not be widely released. Instead, the company announced Project Glasswing, inviting large tech companies, cybersecurity vendors, JPMorgan Chase, and dozens of other organizations to privately evaluate the model and prepare their defenses.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said last week the company was discussing its cutting-edge AI model Mythos with the Trump administration, but did not provide details.