Technology
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Technology
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White House, Pentagon drift further apart on Anthropic |
The White House and the Pentagon are taking significantly different approaches to how — and whether — the federal government would use Anthropic’s artificial intelligence systems.
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© AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
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As the White House warms up to the frontier AI company while the Pentagon digs its heels in against the firm, government employees and contractors are left in a bind.
“For providers dependent on a specific model, this creates confusion,” an industry source operating inside federal agencies told The Hill. “Most are taking a dual-track approach to wait for clarity while preparing internally to transition from Anthropic to alternative models if needed.”
Just over two months have passed since the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic from its military work after a dispute with the company over the potential use of its AI models for domestic surveillance and for fully autonomous attacks.
As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved to ban Anthropic from the Pentagon, President Trump took a step further and told civilian agencies to stop using its products as well.
Anthropic is challenging its designation as a supply chain risk — a designation that is typically reserved for foreign adversaries — and Department of Defense leaders indicated as recently as last week that they were not planning to back down.
Hegseth slammed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as an “ideological lunatic” during a Senate hearing last week, telling lawmakers the firm would not agree with the Pentagon’s terms of service. He compared it to “Boeing giving us airplanes and telling us who we can shoot at.”
A day later, DOD’s chief technology officer, Emil Michael, told CNBC that Anthropic is still a supply chain risk, reiterating that the Pentagon has directed DOD offices to remove the product from its work within six months, with some exceptions.
Meanwhile, other administration leaders, including Trump himself, have signaled otherwise in recent weeks. Prior to Michael’s CNBC appearance, Trump told the same outlet that a deal between the DOD and Anthropic is “possible.”
Read more in a full report tomorrow morning at TheHill.com
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Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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Pennsylvania is suing an artificial intelligence company to stop it from misrepresenting its AI chatbots as licensed professionals who can provide medical advice. The lawsuit alleges Character.AI chatbots claimed to be licensed medical professionals, including psychiatrists, available to engage users in conversations about mental health symptoms. In one instance, a chatbot falsely stated it was …
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Three major artificial intelligence firms have agreed to share their models with the federal government to be tested ahead of deployment, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced Tuesday. As part of the agreements, Google DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI will give their models to the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) for “pre-deployment evaluations and targeted research to better assess …
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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced Tuesday that the cryptocurrency exchange is laying off hundreds of employees, pointing to the market’s current downswing and recent AI advancements. The company plans to reduce its workforce by about 14 percent, Armstrong said in an email to employees shared to the social platform X, which is equivalent to almost 700 jobs, based on the nearly 5,000 employees it reported at the end of last …
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News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
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- Publishers, best-selling novelist sue Meta, Zuckerberg, alleging copyright infringement (The New York Times)
- Airbnb co-founder taps Peter Arnell as chief brand architect (TechCrunch)
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Banks push back on new stablecoin draft
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Welcome to Crypto Corner, a new feature in The Hill’s Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
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A major cryptocurrency bill cleared a major hurdle on Friday, when Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) released the long-awaited draft of a stablecoin provision.
But there are still road bumps ahead for the legislation.
The banking industry isn’t entirely happy with the new draft. Five major bank trade groups said in a joint statement Monday that the text “falls short.”
“Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks are seeking to achieve the correct policy goal — prohibiting the payment of yield and interest on stablecoins; however, the proposed language falls short of that goal," they said.
“We will be sharing our detailed suggestions for strengthening the proposed language with lawmakers in the coming days, and we will continue to work in good faith to help Congress embrace innovation while protecting the deposits that drive local lending and economic activity in their communities,” the banking trades added.
The crypto and banking industries have been locked in a dispute for months over the provision, which aims to clarify language in a stablecoin measure that passed last year. Tillis and Alsobrooks have been leading negotiations.
The North Carolina Republican appears to be standing by the new draft, arguing that the senators have sought to address the banking industry's concerns.
“They have had a seat at the table and have been directly sharing their feedback and ideas for months to inform the final product,” he wrote in a post on X. “We have worked in good faith with all sides throughout this process to encourage compromise and to avoid letting the perfect become the enemy of the good.”
“Most importantly, it helps put us on a bipartisan path to pass the CLARITY Act, providing the regulatory certainty needed to foster innovation,” he added. “Some in the banking industry may not want either of these things to happen, and we respectfully agree to disagree.”
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A MESSAGE FROM ACT | THE APP ASSOCIATION
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ACT: Bridging the Gap Between Small Tech and Washington, D.C. |
By listening to startups and small tech companies, U.S. policymakers can support a regulatory environment that encourages AI innovation, competition, and online safety while driving economic growth. See More on U.S. Small Tech Policy Priorities
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
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Meta turns to AI in age enforcement efforts
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Meta announced Tuesday it will be utilizing artificial intelligence to help remove users younger than 13 years old from its platforms as the technology giant continues efforts to improve safety measures for kids amid scrutiny in state courts and Congress. In a blog post, Meta said it is developing advanced AI to “analyze entire profiles for contextual clues” like birthday celebrations or discussions about school …
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday afternoon that the Iranian regime’s “insane in the brain” leaders should not test President … Read more
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared annoyed Tuesday after a reporter asked him when President Trump decided to capitulate on his initial demands … Read more
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You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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