[HN Gopher] Trump orders US Government to cut ties with Anthropic
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Trump orders US Government to cut ties with Anthropic
Author : SunshineTheCat
Score : 123 points
Date : 2026-02-27 21:49 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (abcnews.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (abcnews.com)
| epolanski wrote:
| > "Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during
| this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the
| Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal
| consequences to follow," Trump added.
|
| The Al Capone executive.
|
| No surprise most CEOs are either licking his butt or staying
| silent, there's clearly a climate of fear.
| anonym29 wrote:
| (1603ET): An hour before a 5PM ET deadline, President Donald
| Trump directed 'EVERY Federal Agency in the United States
| Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic's
| technology," posting on Truth Social that "We don't need it, we
| don't want it, and we will not do business with them again."
| zmj wrote:
| This is the happy ending.
| ortusdux wrote:
| I'm worried about who will rush in to fill the vacuum.
| stdgy wrote:
| I'm sure Alex Karp and Palantir are already charging into the
| breach, promising to deliver things they don't have the
| capability to deliver! (Otherwise known as just another day
| for them)
| simlevesque wrote:
| No, Trump added "I will use the full power of the presidency to
| make them comply".
| surprisetalk wrote:
| From the official @WhiteHouse twitter:
|
| https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2027497719678255148
|
| https://xcancel.com/WhiteHouse/status/2027497719678255148
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| [dupe] Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185528
| aaronharnly wrote:
| This is the Truth Social post, which the article quotes but
| doesn't quite convey the flavor of:
|
| https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/1161445529692...
|
| > THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT,
| WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS
| WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the
| tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.
|
| > The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS
| MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force
| them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution.
| Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops
| in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY.
|
| > Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United
| States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic's
| technology. We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do
| business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out
| period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using
| Anthropic's products, at various levels. Anthropic better get
| their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period,
| or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them
| comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.
|
| > WE will decide the fate of our Country -- NOT some out-of-
| control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea
| what the real World is all about. Thank you for your attention to
| this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! PRESIDENT
| DONALD J. TRUMP
| ZeroGravitas wrote:
| I mentioned his insane threats to Netflix earlier and tried to
| Google an article that referenced it. None of them linked or
| even broadly quoted it.
|
| There's been a concerted effort to hide the fact that the US
| President is posting insane shit every day for years.
| cluckindan wrote:
| You really think it's him tapping away those Troots?
| harry8 wrote:
| Coveffe
| abraxas wrote:
| The sanewashing of that nutbar from every media outlet in the
| States has been equally as breathtaking as the rants
| themselves.
| wrs wrote:
| It's just so great to have a president whose public statements
| sound like a 3-year-old having a tantrum. Every agency must
| immediately cease all use of Anthropic's technology, except the
| agencies that are using Anthropic's products?
| Covzire wrote:
| Does anyone know (more precisely) what the military wanted to
| use Claude for and what Anthropic was resisting?
| mingus88 wrote:
| Their statement called out automatic weapons targeting and
| domestic surveillance as two lines they would not cross
| Covzire wrote:
| But.. we already have automatic weapons targeting systems
| and the PATRIOT act, which enjoys bi-partisan support
| already providing basically limitless domestic
| surveillance.
| goatlover wrote:
| Doesn't mean Anthropic wants their tech making it even
| worse.
| Covzire wrote:
| Agreed, but the details released so far are pretty sparse
| on what exactly was being asked. If they're resisting
| general AI to help missiles find their target better,
| then I think it's pretty foolish of Anthropic to resist
| because that's happening come hell or high water. If it's
| about resisting mass surveileance without a warrant of
| American citizens, then I'd cheer Anthropic on for
| pulling out, but we just don't know apparently.
| pseudalopex wrote:
| The Department of Defense demanded contracts which would
| allow any lawful use. Anthropic refused to allow mass
| domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons until
| fully autonomous weapons could be more reliable.[1]
|
| [1] https://www.anthropic.com/news/statement-department-
| of-war
| pseudalopex wrote:
| Anthropic's statement specified mass domestic surveillance.
| Not all domestic surveillance. And fully autonomous weapons
| with today's systems. Not automatic targeting. And not
| never.
| tapvt wrote:
| Is this not a greater loss for the government than for Anthropic?
| p-o wrote:
| The messaging is not normal, the intent is absolutely abhorrent.
| With every passing week, the rhetoric coming from him gets more
| violent: I'm worried.
| garciasn wrote:
| Now you're worried? Come on. He is using the Bully Pulpit to
| try and pressure other companies to toeing the line. At least
| someone had the balls to tell them to get fucked instead of
| kowtowing.
| mingus88 wrote:
| He is also clearly in the throes of dementia, as his father
| was. It's a common symptom of dementia patients to become
| rude and violent as their facilities slip away
|
| If only we had a constitutional process for removing
| presidents from office as they become obviously unfit for the
| office...
| cyanydeez wrote:
| yes, but this is his administration; full stop neogestapo.
| Hes surrounded and politically floated by white Christian
| nationalists. His dementia just lubricates the existing
| harm vectors.
| GorbachevyChase wrote:
| Anthropic is getting what it deserves. I feel pretty
| comfortable assuming you've never served, but the idea that you
| could be in a life and death situation (that is your life and
| your death) and your equipment fails because otherwise it would
| violate an AI code of conduct document some sanctimonious dweeb
| made up is completely unacceptable. It's a very simple question
| about guaranteed reliability. Anthropic is, in fact, a supply
| chain risk and not fit for tasks of serious consequence.
| Furthermore, a quick survey of the disturbing racial calculus
| all of these models perform for the "trolley problem" should be
| a sign that there are no AI providers fit to make any moral
| judgments on any subject whatsoever. I think we would all be
| much better off with a product that just works and then
| regulate users. If Sam Altman is your moral compass, then you
| are in trouble.
| demuis wrote:
| Would love nothing more than for sama to refuse government
| contracts in solidarity. Free enterprise isn't free
| et-al wrote:
| The same Sam Altman that brought us Worldcoin + The Orb?
| sama2026 wrote:
| OpenAI courts Trump and their executives donate to MAGA
| foundations directly.
| pogue wrote:
| From Axios:
|
| _What to watch: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a memo to
| staff on Thursday night that the company will uphold the same
| red lines as Anthropic on surveillance and autonomous
| weapons, but still hopes to strike a deal with the Pentagon._
|
| https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/anthropic-pentagon-
| supply-c...
| NittLion78 wrote:
| Idk who would even want them as a client. They'll change course
| on you every 4 years at minimum potentially in massive ways
| that might force you to change your product putting all your
| other users at risk - and they might just do that to you
| legislatively, anyway!
| paozac wrote:
| This might actually make Anthropic very popular among those who
| do not support the current US presidency, a significant market
| share.
| smalltorch wrote:
| Take notes other AI companies. This is a totally fine line to
| draw and it's not even that high bar.
|
| Dont allow systems to be built with your AI that automate mass
| surveillance or automate kill decisions.
| throwaw12 wrote:
| I guess Sama is happy.
|
| Also I wonder what's happening with democracy in the US, with
| this level of presidential control to mess up everything, is US
| moving towards dictatorship?
| bestouff wrote:
| Are you seriously still asking this question ?
| lioeters wrote:
| I'm starting to think this guy is kind of a jerk.
| cue_the_strings wrote:
| Probably war.
| cluckindan wrote:
| The puppet does what the puppeteer makes it do.
| palmotea wrote:
| > Also I wonder what's happening with democracy in the US, with
| this level of presidential control to mess up everything, is US
| moving towards dictatorship?
|
| I mean maybe, but not because the president can decide to
| cancel a contract with a vendor. That seems to be a pretty
| reasonable power for the president to have.
| frogperson wrote:
| You cant be serious. We are well past democracy and deep into
| fascism. Ask yourself, how many of the 14 points do you
| recognize?
|
| https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
| throwaw12 wrote:
| You might be right, I am getting worried more and more for
| upcoming 2039-2045 years
| RonanSoleste wrote:
| Oh the US crossed that threshold the day he started he won
| the elections the second time. Most Americans seem to think
| new elections will solve it. But for germans it was a world
| war that brought back democracy. There were no elections
| anymore. That is also the most likely case for the US now.
| maxwellsdeamons wrote:
| Not saying that you are wrong. But even before Trump the US
| ticked like 10/14.
| adriand wrote:
| The US will survive this, despite being damaged, because Trump
| and his team are incompetent and he's in a bubble and no one
| tells him what is actually going on. The GOP is going to get
| crushed in the midterms. From that standpoint, Anthropic may
| simply be playing the long game, and playing it well.
| goatlover wrote:
| Really hope so. Only concern is what desperate measures the
| Trump admin will be willing to employ to stop the midterms
| from giving Democrats control of Congress (or at least the
| House).
| baal80spam wrote:
| https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5729118/trump-anthropic...
| nixass wrote:
| They just know the circus will end fairly soon. No point in
| undermining its own future for this clown show
| mclean wrote:
| So, after all is done and dust has settled, Anthropic will be the
| only big'ish tech company that not sold it soul to devil.
| cyanydeez wrote:
| optimistic. This just means they'll demand a higher price.
| blitzar wrote:
| Is this as real as the Ai generated medical ship that is steaming
| towards Greenland as we speak?
| senko wrote:
| Related:
|
| * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185528
|
| * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185892
|
| * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47186031
|
| * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185682
|
| * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185482
| tayo42 wrote:
| So the government is phasing them out, or the company needs to
| get their act together?
|
| Rarely see a company tell the government no though.
| xiphias2 wrote:
| For anybody who thinks it's about Trump vs other administration:
| it's not, both AI surveillance of all people and using it for
| automatic fight was just bound to happen.
|
| The only question is whether the safety of the models were really
| done well enough to protect the people and be a net positive
| force in the world.
|
| I guess if they would be safely trained to do more good than bad
| (how Dario and SamA said), there wouldn't even be a need for the
| contract terms.
| seanmcau wrote:
| It would/will be extremely irresponsible to put non-
| deterministic and fallible models in charge of weapons. We are
| not close to having solved the problem of ensuring AI pursues
| good outcomes
| xiphias2 wrote:
| I agree completely. Anybody who uses the models extensively
| know it can do something amazing for a prompt and something
| awful for another. But I also know that wars are
| unfortunately real and there are real enemies between
| countries and they don't want a limited model.
| Animats wrote:
| Something interesting is going on around Trump's rants. Some
| White House staffers are directing lower-level staff to ignore
| them and focus on the economy. James Blair [2] seems to be
| leading this. Blair was in charge of political strategy for
| Trump's campaign, and he won, so he's probably not going to be
| fired.
|
| There have been presidents in decline who were semi-captured by
| their staffs. Biden, Reagan, and Roosevelt all were. It may be
| that Trump gets trotted out now and then to deliver his standard
| speech (his speeches all have roughly the same content,
| regardless of subject or venue), but the work of the White House
| involves him less.
|
| Watch to see which threats get followed up with action, and which
| ones don't.
|
| [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/02/trump-gop-
| repub...
|
| [2]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blair_(political_advisor...
| drivingmenuts wrote:
| That's a solid gold recommendation for Anthropic, far as I'm
| concerned.
| thomassmith65 wrote:
| Please, Anthropic, make 30 second commercials about this dispute!
|
| Not a hard sell, but just _" These are the two demands the
| government gave us, and here's why we did not agree to them"_
|
| It makes the company so attractive to most of the public - not
| just those who dislike Trump, but also those don't trust
| government.
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(page generated 2026-02-27 23:01 UTC)