The United States military reportedly relied on Claude, the artificial intelligence model developed by Anthropic, during its strikes on Iran—even though former President Donald Trump had ordered federal agencies to stop using the company’s technology just hours earlier.
Reports from The Wall Street Journal and Axios indicate that Claude was used during the large-scale joint US-Israel bombing campaign against Iran that began on Saturday. The episode highlights how difficult it can be for the military to quickly remove advanced AI systems once they are deeply integrated into operational frameworks.
According to the Journal, the AI tools supported military intelligence analysis, assisted in identifying potential targets, and were also used to simulate battlefield scenarios ahead of operations.
The day before the strikes began, Trump instructed all federal agencies to immediately discontinue using Anthropic’s AI tools. In a post on Truth Social, he criticized the company, calling it a "Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about".
Tensions between the US government and Anthropic had already been escalating. The conflict intensified after the US military reportedly used Claude during a January mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Anthropic raised concerns over that operation, noting that its usage policies prohibit the application of its AI systems for violent purposes, weapons development, or surveillance.
Relations continued to deteriorate in the months that followed. In a lengthy post on X, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused the company of "arrogance and betrayal", stating that "America's warfighters will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech".
Hegseth also called for complete and unrestricted access to Anthropic’s AI models for any lawful military use.
Despite the political dispute, officials acknowledged that removing Claude from military systems would not be immediate. Because the technology has become widely embedded across operations, the Pentagon plans a transition period. Hegseth said Anthropic would continue providing services "for a period of no more than six months to allow for a seamless transition to a better and more patriotic service".
Meanwhile, OpenAI has moved quickly to fill the gap created by the rift. CEO Sam Altman announced that the company had reached an agreement with the Pentagon to deploy its AI tools—including ChatGPT—within the military’s classified networks.