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When Governments Push Back: The Week That Redefined AI Companies' Relationship With Power

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Introduction

On a Tuesday afternoon in late February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Dario Amodei, Anthropic's chief executive, at the Pentagon. Hegseth wanted Amodei to sign a document granting the U.S. military unrestricted use of Claude for all lawful purposes. Amodei declined.

By Wednesday night, the Pentagon sent...

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