The idea of putting American companies on a blacklist that is typically used for only a few companies from ‘enemy’ countries, where other suppliers to the government cannot do business with them either, is incredibly dystopian and authoritarian. It goes against basic American values. And at worst, it risks perhaps the most important company of this era.
To me, it feels like forcing ideological choices on a business, and a violation of the first amendment. If the Trump administration / Pete Hegseth had any interest in acting fairly, they would simply ask companies to not use Anthropic for any situation that involves the prohibited activities - which are mass surveillance and AI-driven killing machines - but otherwise let them use Anthropic if they want.
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47140734
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47142587
The idea of putting American companies on a blacklist that is typically used for only a few companies from ‘enemy’ countries, where other suppliers to the government cannot do business with them either, is incredibly dystopian and authoritarian. It goes against basic American values. And at worst, it risks perhaps the most important company of this era.
To me, it feels like forcing ideological choices on a business, and a violation of the first amendment. If the Trump administration / Pete Hegseth had any interest in acting fairly, they would simply ask companies to not use Anthropic for any situation that involves the prohibited activities - which are mass surveillance and AI-driven killing machines - but otherwise let them use Anthropic if they want.
IANAL but it seems 3rd-amendment-adjacent.
So far, this administration has wiped its ass with the constitution and... nothing happened.
> If the Trump administration / Pete Hegseth had any interest in acting fairly
(they don't)
This is no different from the lawyers at any large organization telling individual teams not to use a specific vendor. It happens all the time.
Anthropic wants to dictate what the DoD can do with its product. The DoD said that means you’re not fit for purpose. Really not a big deal.
It’s just not reasonable to think the DoD will start doing license audits of individual missions so Anthropic can virtue signal.