---
type: source
title: "A Timeline of the Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute"
author: "TechPolicy.Press"
url: https://www.techpolicy.press/a-timeline-of-the-anthropic-pentagon-dispute/
date: 2026-03-27
domain: ai-alignment
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
priority: low
tags: [Anthropic, Pentagon, timeline, chronology, dispute, supply-chain-risk, injunction, context]
processed_by: theseus
processed_date: 2026-03-29
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
extraction_notes: "LLM returned 0 claims, 0 rejected by validator"
---

## Content

TechPolicy.Press comprehensive chronology of the Anthropic-Pentagon dispute (July 2025 – March 27, 2026).

**Complete timeline:**
- July 2025: DoD awards Anthropic $200M contract
- January 2026: Dispute begins at SpaceX event — contentious exchange between Anthropic and Palantir officials over Claude's role in capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Anthropic disputes this account)
- February 24: Hegseth gives Amodei 5:01pm Friday deadline to accept "all lawful purposes" language
- February 26: Anthropic statement: we will not budge
- February 27: Trump directs all agencies to stop using Anthropic; Hegseth designates supply chain risk
- March 1-2: OpenAI announces Pentagon deal under "any lawful purpose" language
- March 4: FT reports Anthropic reopened talks; Washington Post reports Claude used in ongoing war against Iran
- March 9: Anthropic sues in N.D. Cal.
- March 17: DOJ files legal brief; Slotkin introduces AI Guardrails Act
- March 20: New court filing reveals Pentagon told Anthropic sides were "nearly aligned" — a week after Trump declared relationship kaput
- March 24: Hearing before Judge Lin — "troubling," "that seems a pretty low bar"
- March 26: Preliminary injunction granted (43-page ruling)
- March 27: Analysis published

**Notable additional detail:** New court filing (March 20) revealed Pentagon told Anthropic sides were "nearly aligned" a week after Trump declared the relationship kaput. This suggests the public blacklisting was a political maneuver, not a genuine breakdown in negotiations.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** Reference document. The March 20 court filing detail is new — "nearly aligned" one week after blacklisting suggests the supply-chain-risk designation was a political pressure tactic, not a sincere national security assessment. This strengthens the First Amendment retaliation claim.

**What surprised me:** The Venezuelan Maduro capture story as the origin of the dispute — "contentious exchange between Anthropic and Palantir officials over Claude's role in the capture." Palantir is a defense contractor deeply integrated with government targeting operations. This suggests the dispute may have started as a specific deployment conflict (Palantir + DoD wanting Claude for a specific operation, Anthropic refusing), which then escalated to a policy confrontation.

**What I expected but didn't find:** The origin story of the Palantir-Anthropic-Maduro dispute. Anthropic disputes the Semafor account. This deserves a separate search — it may reveal more about what specific operational uses Anthropic was resisting.

**KB connections:** Context document for multiple active claims. The "nearly aligned" detail enriches the First Amendment retaliation narrative.

**Extraction hints:** Low priority for claim extraction — this is a context document. The "nearly aligned" detail could enrich the injunction archive. The Palantir-Maduro origin story is worth a dedicated search.

**Context:** TechPolicy.Press. Published March 27, 2026. Authoritative timeline document.

## Curator Notes

PRIMARY CONNECTION: government-safety-designations-can-invert-dynamics-penalizing-safety
WHY ARCHIVED: Reference document for the full Anthropic-Pentagon chronology; the "nearly aligned" court filing detail suggests the blacklisting was a political pressure tactic, strengthening the First Amendment retaliation claim
EXTRACTION HINT: Low priority for extraction. Use as context for other claims. The Palantir-Maduro origin story is worth noting for session 18 research.


## Key Facts
- July 2025: DoD awarded Anthropic $200M contract
- January 2026: Dispute began at SpaceX event with contentious exchange between Anthropic and Palantir officials over Claude's alleged role in capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Anthropic disputes this account)
- February 24, 2026: Hegseth gave Amodei 5:01pm Friday deadline to accept 'all lawful purposes' language
- February 26, 2026: Anthropic statement: we will not budge
- February 27, 2026: Trump directed all agencies to stop using Anthropic; Hegseth designated supply chain risk
- March 1-2, 2026: OpenAI announced Pentagon deal under 'any lawful purpose' language
- March 4, 2026: FT reported Anthropic reopened talks; Washington Post reported Claude used in ongoing war against Iran
- March 9, 2026: Anthropic sued in N.D. Cal.
- March 17, 2026: DOJ filed legal brief; Slotkin introduced AI Guardrails Act
- March 20, 2026: New court filing revealed Pentagon told Anthropic sides were 'nearly aligned' a week after Trump declared relationship kaput
- March 24, 2026: Hearing before Judge Lin with 'troubling' and 'that seems a pretty low bar' comments
- March 26, 2026: Preliminary injunction granted (43-page ruling)
- The dispute origin story involves Palantir officials and a specific operational deployment (Maduro capture), suggesting the conflict began as a specific use-case refusal that escalated to policy confrontation
