The Pentagon has told senior leaders that limited use of Anthropic’s artificial intelligence tools may continue beyond a planned six-month phase-out period if considered critical to national security, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The document, dated March 6 and signed by Pentagon Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies, says exemptions may be granted only in “rare and extraordinary circumstances”.

The memo states such approvals would apply solely to mission-critical activities directly supporting national security operations where no alternative technology exists.

Strict Conditions For Exemptions

Any military unit seeking to continue using the AI tools must submit a detailed risk-mitigation plan for approval.

The Pentagon confirmed the memo but declined to comment further. Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Experts say the limited carve-out highlights the difficulty of fully removing the company’s technology from defence systems.

Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer, said many contractors may struggle to verify that their software supply chains contain no elements linked to Anthropic, including open-source code.

He said the policy could trigger numerous exemption requests.

Dispute Over Military Use Of AI

The memo follows a weeks-long dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic over technology safeguards governing the military use of the company’s AI tools.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth previously labelled Anthropic a supply-chain risk and ordered a ban on its products across the Pentagon and its contractors.

Anthropic has since filed a lawsuit seeking to block the policy.

Priority On Critical Defence Systems

The memo instructs defence officials to prioritise removing Anthropic technology from systems supporting highly sensitive missions.

These include areas such as nuclear weapons infrastructure and ballistic missile defence.

The ban also applies to defence contractors. Pentagon contracting officers have been given 30 days to notify companies, which must confirm full compliance within 180 days.

(with inputs from Reuters)