Dario Amodei says Anthropic is having 'productive conversations' with the Pentagon despite being effectively blacklisted

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei confirmed that the Pentagon has effectively blacklisted the AI startup.
• Amodei said Anthropic has had "productive conversations" with the Defense Department.
• However, Undersecretary of Defense Emil Michael said the Defense Department isn't in talks with Anthropic.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei isn't walking away from the table with the Pentagon, even as his company could sue the Defense Department.

"I would like to reiterate that we had been having productive conversations with the Department of War over the last several days, both about ways we could serve the Department that adhere to our two narrow exceptions, and ways for us to ensure a smooth transition if that is not possible," Amodei wrote in a lengthy statement published on Thursday night.

Amodei's statement came after the Pentagon confirmed that it formally notified Anthropic that "the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately." It means that Anthropic is effectively blacklisted after Amodei and the company refused to acquiesce to the department's demands.

Following Amodei's statement, Emil Michael, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said in a post on X on Thursday that the Department of War is not in talks with Anthropic.

"I want to end all speculation: there is no active @DeptofWar negotiation with @AnthropicAI," Michael wrote.

For all of the talk of reconciliation, Amodei said Anthropic is prepared to sue the Pentagon over the designation. In particular, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the effective blacklisting means that any company that has defense contracts cannot do business with Anthropic.

"The language used by the Department of War in the letter (even supposing it was legally sound) matches our statement on Friday that the vast majority of our customers are unaffected by a supply chain risk designation," Amodei wrote of the letter the Pentagon sent Anthropic.

Microsoft, which offers Anthropic models to its customers, said it will continue to work with the AI startup

"Our lawyers have studied the designation and have concluded that Anthropic products, including Claude, can remain available to our customers — other than the Department of War — through platforms such as M365, GitHub, and Microsoft's AI Foundry and that we can continue to work with Anthropic on non-defense related projects," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider.

The fight with the Pentagon has sparked interest in Anthropic, making Claude the top free app in major US app stores. Still, the standoff carries risks for the AI startup given its focus on enterprise business.

Amodei said that Anthropic continues to disagree with the Pentagon's position on the sweeping nature of the ban.

"With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts," he wrote.

Amodei also offered a public apology after The Information reported that he wrote harshly critical comments about the White House in a private memo to staff after talks with the Pentagon fell apart on Friday. In the memo, Amodei wrote that the administration didn't like his company because he hadn't "given dictator-style praise to Trump."

"It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologize for the tone of the post. It does not reflect my careful or considered views," Amodei wrote on Thursday. "It was also written six days ago, and is an out-of-date assessment of the current situation."

Claude has shot up in popularity since Friday, but Amodei's statement makes clear that the AI company wants to de-escalate the situation.

"Anthropic has much more in common with the Department of War than we have differences," he wrote.