U.S. Special Operations forces captured Nicolás Maduro in a pre-dawn raid in Caracas on January 3rd. The mission reportedly utilized the military’s Maven Smart System, built by Palantir, which has Anthropic’s Claude model embedded for data analysis and targeting. Claude is a powerful AI engine.
A month later, in February, Anthropic pushed back at Palantir, insisting that their system could not be used to carry out surveillance on Americans or for kinetic (kill) operations. Anthropic demanded to know how Claude was being used. That demand triggered a furious reaction from the Pentagon, because Palantir and Claude were being used for the planning and operational phases of what became the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran starting on February 28th. Moreover, Pentagon military planning is highly classified, and Anthropic—a private company—has no security clearances. Even if the Pentagon had thought it advisable (which they emphatically did not), they could not respond to Anthropic’s demands.
Had Anthropic prevailed, the Iran operation would have been dangerously compromised. U.S. intelligence support to Ukraine, other NATO operations, and Pacific region security efforts, as well as security from nuclear threats, could also have been jeopardized.
Anthropic is a privately held company. Its main investors are Amazon, which has invested roughly $4 billion and serves as Anthropic’s primary cloud provider (AWS); Google (Alphabet), which invested $2 billion and integrated Claude into various enterprise services; and Microsoft, jointly with Nvidia, as major backers.
Amazon holds significant contracts with the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies. Specifically through Amazon Web Services (AWS), it is one of the U.S. government’s most vital technology partners. Amazon provides the “cloud” component of the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, serving as one of four providers (alongside Google, Microsoft, and Oracle) under this $9 billion contract. AWS delivers “tactical edge” computing, meaning its servers are deployed directly on battlefields and in remote command centers. It is also the lead provider for the CIA and the broader Intelligence Community under a multi-billion-dollar framework handling classified workloads. In late 2025, Amazon announced a $50 billion investment to expand AI and supercomputing infrastructure for U.S. government customers, including building dedicated data centers in the AWS Top Secret, AWS Secret, and GovCloud regions.
Google’s relationship with the U.S. government has evolved from a period of public employee protests, such as over Project Maven in 2018, to becoming a cornerstone of national defense and civilian infrastructure. As of March 2026, Google, via Google Public Sector, is one of the “Big Four” cloud providers for the U.S. government alongside Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle. In July 2025, Google was awarded a $200 million ceiling contract by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO).
Nvidia’s relationship with the U.S. government is fundamentally different. While Amazon and Google provide software and cloud infrastructure, Nvidia provides the physical “engine”—GPUs—that power virtually every government AI initiative. As of early 2026, Nvidia has transitioned from a hardware vendor to a strategic national security partner, deeply embedded in the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.
In 2018, Google signed a contract for Project Maven, using AI to automatically analyze drone footage for the Air Force. Over 4,000 employees signed a petition, and several high-level engineers resigned, arguing that Google should not be in the “business of war.” Google eventually withdrew from the contract, and CEO Sundar Pichai released a set of “AI Principles” explicitly promising that the company would never develop AI for weapons or surveillance that violates human rights. In February 2025, Google quietly updated its official AI Principles, removing the explicit ban on using AI for weapons and surveillance. The updated language emphasized “supporting national security” and ensuring “democracies lead in AI development,” effectively clearing the path for Google to bid on the Pentagon’s most lethal projects. Industry analysts suggest that Google felt it was losing billions in revenue to Microsoft and Amazon, who had no comparable self-imposed restrictions.
The Pentagon has imposed a ban on Anthropic, set to take full effect in six months. Secretary of Defense Hegseth issued a directive stating that no military contractor may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic if they wish to retain their government contracts. Since Anthropic’s Silicon Valley investors all hold major defense contracts, they risk losing them, as do other defense contractors including Palantir and the “majors,” such as Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
Anthropic’s lawyers are likely to reference Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952). In that case, the Supreme Court found President Truman’s attempt to nationalize U.S. steel mills during a national security emergency unconstitutional. However, by the time the case was heard, the strike threatening steel production during the Korean War had been resolved, so the national emergency claim was moot. The Anthropic case, in contrast, is not about nationalization, and the Pentagon is under no legal obligation to accept private company demands that could imperil national security.
One lingering question is whether the private sector can impose its own rules on the government, particularly on matters of national security. Anthropic came dangerously close to causing a national security disaster that could have jeopardized U.S. operations and the lives of American and allied personnel.
