After calling Sam Altman 'liar' in email to employees, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei reportedly looking for re-entry in Pentagon

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is reportedly seeking to reopen talks with the US Department of War after negotiations over access to the company’s AI models broke down last week. The development comes days after Amodei criticised OpenAI’s defence deal and called CEO Sam Altman’s messaging “straight up lies” in an internal memo to employees.

A report by The Financial Times cited multiple people with knowledge of the matter to claim that Amodei has been in discussions with Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s under-secretary of defence for research and engineering, to reach a new contract that would allow the US military to continue using Anthropic’s technology. The talks follow warnings from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that Anthropic could be designated a supply chain risk if an agreement is not reached.

The dispute began after Anthropic declined the Pentagon’s request for unrestricted access to its AI systems, citing concerns about safeguards around domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. The Pentagon later signed a deal with OpenAI instead, prompting Amodei to criticise the arrangement and argue that his company rejected the terms because “they cared about placating employees, and we actually cared about preventing abuses.”

Why did talks between the Pentagon and Anthropic break down

Last week, tensions escalated between Anthropic and the US Department of War after negotiations over the use of the company’s AI technology broke down. Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s under-secretary of defence for research and engineering, reportedly described Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as a “liar” with a “God complex”.

Talks collapsed a day later after both sides failed to agree on contract language that Anthropic said was necessary to prevent its AI systems from being used for mass domestic surveillance. The company has also said it opposes the use of its technology for lethal autonomous weapons.

“Near the end of the negotiation the [department] offered to accept our current terms if we deleted a specific phrase about ‘analysis of bulk acquired data’ which was the single line in the contract that exactly matched this scenario we were most worried about. We found that very suspicious,” Amodei wrote in a memo to employees on Friday, first reported by The Information and later seen by the Financial Times.

In the memo, Amodei also wrote that messaging from the Pentagon and OpenAI, which signed its own agreement with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, was “just straight up lies about these issues or tries to confuse them”.

He further suggested that Anthropic may have been sidelined because “we haven’t given dictator-style praise to Trump,” drawing a contrast with OpenAI's chief, Sam Altman.

Anthropic was first awarded a $200 million contract with the US Department of War in July 2025 and became one of the early AI model providers used in classified settings and by national security agencies.

The dispute intensified after the Pentagon pushed for AI companies to allow their technology to be used for any “lawful” purpose. The situation culminated last week when Hegseth said he planned to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk, a step that would require companies in the military supply chain to cut ties with the AI firm.