Microsoft keeps Anthropic products after lawyers review Pentagon designation

Microsoft said its lawyers studied the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation and concluded Anthropic products, including Claude, can remain available to customers, with the exception of the Department of War. Claude will still be accessible through platforms such as M365, GitHub, and Microsoft's AI Foundry, and the company said it can continue to work with Anthropic on non-defense related projects.

The Pentagon formally informed Anthropic that the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the designation effectively bars companies with defense contracts from doing business with Anthropic, and the startup has said it plans to challenge the decision in court.

The designation follows a dispute over how Anthropic's Claude models could be used; the company has said it will not allow its technology to be deployed for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.

United States

microsoft, anthropic, claude, pentagon, supply chain, designation, m365, github, ai foundry, defense contracts