Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has restarted negotiations with the US Defense Department after the government threatened to label the company a supply chain risk. The AI startup, which previously signed a $200 million deal in 2025, is trying to prevent the Pentagon from canceling its contract over disagreements about surveillance safeguards. The talks involve Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael.

Negotiations broke down last year when Anthropic refused to remove language preventing its technology from being used for mass surveillance. In a memo to staff, Amodei said the Pentagon offered to accept their terms if they deleted a specific phrase about "analysis of bulk acquired data." He described this as the single provision matching their greatest concern.

President Trump had ordered agencies to stop using Anthropic's technology, though a six-month phase-out period allowed the government to deploy Anthropic's AI tools in an air attack on Iran. Amodei also criticized OpenAI's Sam Altman for allegedly lying about the situation and suggested his company's troubles stem from not offering "dictator-style praise" to Trump, unlike Altman.