Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: Inside the Battle Over A.I. Warfare

In recent weeks, the Defense Department has tussled with Anthropic over how its artificial intelligence could be used on classified systems. That fight became bitter and negotiations fell apart. And war in the Middle East has made it increasingly clear how much the U.S. military has been relying on A.I.

Sheera Frenkel, who covers technology for The New York Times, explains the standoff and what it reveals about the future of warfare.

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, a New York Times reporter who covers how technology affects our lives.

Background reading:

• How talks between Anthropic and the Defense Department fell apart.
• Here is a guide to the Pentagon’s dance with Anthropic and OpenAI.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.