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I spent decades inside the Pentagon watching technology reshape warfare. I saw precision munitions change the battlefield. I watched satellites compress decision cycles. But nothing compares to what is happening now.
Artificial intelligence has moved the lab to the kill chain.
And the showdown between Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and AI firm Anthropic is not a contract dispute. It is the opening battle over who controls the most powerful military technology of the 21st century.
Anthropic leadership refused demands from the Department of War to use its artificial intelligence for "all lawful purposes" after the Maduro raid. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters:AHIKAM SERI/AFP via Getty Images)
Western officials report that drones now account for roughly 70-80% of battlefield casualties in that war. But the real revolution occurs when AI is added. Reports indicate AI-guided navigation can increase drone strike accuracy from 10–20% to as high as 70–80%.
That is not incremental change. That is a transformation in battlefield lethality.
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The same dynamic is emerging in U.S. operations involving Iran and other theaters. AI tools are being used for intelligence analysis, targeting refinement, pattern recognition, and operational simulations. These systems compress time, reduce uncertainty and accelerate decisions.
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On Feb. 27, Hegseth designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk to national security." President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to cease using its Claude AI model after Anthropic refused to remove two guardrails:
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Artificial intelligence has moved the lab to the kill chain.
The Pentagon argues that military commanders must be able to use AI tools for all lawful defense purposes without seeking permission from a private company in real time.
Anthropic argues that removing safeguards could enable autonomous killing systems or unconstitutional domestic spying.
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But here is the deeper problem: America has outsourced strategic control of its most sensitive military algorithms to private contractors.
Anthropic Co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei speaks at the "How AI Will Transform Business in the Next 18 Months" panel during INBOUND 2025 Powered by HubSpot at Moscone Center on Sept. 4, 2025, in San Francisco, California. (Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot)
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We must not expand domestic surveillance of American citizens under the banner of AI efficiency. The Fourth Amendment does not disappear in the age of algorithms.
Second, we must keep a human being in the kill chain. I served under lawful command authority. Life-and-death decisions carry moral accountability. They cannot be delegated entirely to autonomous systems.
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But here is the other boundary: no private corporation should hold an effective veto over how America defends itself.
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For decades, the federal government has grown dependent on contractors for critical defense functions — logistics, cyber infrastructure, analytics and intelligence support. AI is simply the next frontier in that pattern.
But frontier AI models are not spare parts or uniforms. They are strategic infrastructure. They influence targeting, operational tempo and potentially deterrence modeling.
CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei, founder of the Mila-Quebec AI Institute and professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, Stuart Russell are sworn in during a hearing before the Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 25, 2023, in Washington, DC. The subcommittee held a hearing on "Oversight of A.I.: Principles for Regulation." (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
That level of sensitivity cannot remain under corporate ownership.
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During World War II, the United States built the atomic bomb through the Manhattan Project under centralized national authority. It was not governed by venture-backed boards setting independent usage policies. It was directed by the U.S. government with a clear strategic mandate.
We need a similar mindset for our most sensitive AI systems.
Government must own core military algorithms. Not lease them. Not subscribe to them. Own them.
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AI tools are being used for intelligence analysis, targeting refinement, pattern recognition, and operational simulations. These systems compress time, reduce uncertainty and accelerate decisions.
If AI is the new strategic high ground, America cannot subcontract the high ground.
As I argue in "The New AI Cold War," Beijing does not struggle with these dilemmas.
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China fuses AI development directly to the state. There are no Silicon Valley executives in Beijing refusing military access. AI is treated as national infrastructure.
Russia and other nations are moving in similar directions. They are not debating internal guardrails while field-testing AI-enabled systems.
Strategic competition does not pause while we litigate contract language.
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First, Congress must draw bright lines: no AI-enabled mass domestic surveillance of Americans without strict constitutional safeguards.
Second, codify meaningful human control over lethal force decisions.
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Third — and most critically — build sovereign AI capacity inside government.
Anthropic argues that removing safeguards could enable autonomous killing systems or unconstitutional domestic spying.
Reduced reliance on private frontier labs for sensitive military systems
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Private industry will continue to innovate. But America’s most sensitive warfighting tools cannot remain dependent on companies whose corporate policies can override national defense requirements.
The Pentagon–Anthropic feud is not about personalities. It is about sovereignty.
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Who controls the algorithms that guide American force?
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In the New AI Cold War, power will belong to those who control the models — not merely those who rent access to them.
America must protect liberty. We must reject AI-driven domestic surveillance. We must preserve human moral accountability in the use of force.
First, Congress must draw bright lines: no AI-enabled mass domestic surveillance of Americans without strict constitutional safeguards.
But we must also end the illusion that venture-backed firms can function as ultimate gatekeepers of national defense.
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The AI Cold War is not hypothetical. It is unfolding on battlefields abroad and in policy fights at home.
This moment is not about one company. It is about whether the United States will treat artificial intelligence as strategic national infrastructure — or as a contractor service.
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The answer will shape the next generation of warfare.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ROBERT MAGINNES
Trump admin sought redactions on key China war game report warning of US military readiness gaps Robert Maginnis is a retired U.S. Army officer and the author of 13 books. His latest is "AI for Mankind’s Future."
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