Anthropic Claude AI could ‘pollute’ US Military supply chain, warns Pentagon CTO: Here’s why

Following the disagreement between Anthropic and the Pentagon over a defence deal, which led the Trump administration to label the AI startup a supply chain risk, the US Department of Defense has escalated its standoff with Anthropic further. Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael warns that the company’s Claude AI models could “pollute” the military supply chain due to built-in policy preferences.

In comments made on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on March 12, 2026, Michael described Claude’s “constitution” as embedding a “different policy preference” that risks influencing critical defence systems.