Donald Trump said Friday he will direct all federal agencies to “IMMEDIATELY CEASE” all use of artificial intelligence technology from Anthropic.
The US Department of Defense and Anthropic hit an impasse with neither side backing down as a deadline for an agreement lapsed on Friday afternoon. The Pentagon had demanded the AI company loosen ethical guidelines on its systems or face severe consequences.
US defense officials have for weeks been pushing for unfettered access to the company’s Claude AI system’s capabilities that they say can help protect the country, while Anthropic has resisted allowing its product to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.
“Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner,” Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei said in a statement this week. “However, in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.”
Trump evidently did not appreciate Anthropic’s red line. “WE will decide the fate of our Country – NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump orders US agencies to stop use of Anthropic technology over AI ethics dispute
The public showdown began earlier this week when the Department of Defense and Anthropic entered into discussions about the military’s use of the company’s Claude AI system. But the talks broke down as both sides appeared to be unable to come to agreement over safety guardrails.
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Trump advisers scramble to justify possible US military intervention in Iran
Donald Trump’s likely the events of war for an attack on Iran – which would be the largest US intervention since the Iraq war – is fraught with contradictions, and his top advisers have been left to cover for him as the White House makes the case for intervention.
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Trump suggests US could carry out ‘friendly takeover’ of Cuba
Trump on Friday said: “They have no money, they have no anything right now. But they’re talking with us and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
The president’s comments come as relations between the two countries have sunk to among their worst in an often bitter 67-year history. The US has cranked up pressure on Cuba’s struggling regime following its successful abduction of Venezuelan president and Cuba ally Nicolás Maduro in January.
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The US secretary of state Marco Rubio told ambassadors in the Middle East to stop making public comments that could inflame tensions and undermine Donald Trump’s pressure on Iran to relinquish its capacity to produce a nuclear weapon, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian.
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Bill Clinton says he had ‘no idea’ about Epstein’s crimes in House testimony
Former president Bill Clinton gave a deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.
During remarks before the House oversight committee on Thursday, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted that she had never met Epstein.
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Science of sex and gender being misrepresented by Trump officials, experts warn
As more health systems end gender-affirming care for patients amid a crackdown from the Trump administration, scientists and advocates say the science of sex and gender is being misrepresented – and will have major repercussions for the healthcare of all Americans.
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Howard Lutnick scrutiny grows as new photo shows him with Epstein
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are taking a closer look at US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s connection to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after the justice department’s website restored a photo showing him with the disgraced financier on his private island.
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What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened on Thursday, 26 February.
