Anthropic Said No...

There's been beef with Anthropic and the Department of War. Command AI Well, this is a developing subject, so I'll be interjecting as new information has come available since we recorded this live on stream on Friday. The Department of War for the US wants unrestricted access. So, I'm going to say unrestricted access, but you know, [snorts] a more unrestricted version of Claude. Now, Claude have baked into their their model a few ground rules really. And and two of those that are under question right now is automatic uh weapons like you know, an AI making decision where it should or shouldn't kill people. Uh mass surveillance. This idea and I mentioned it earlier about this churning through data, churning through masses amounts of data to actually sort of consolidate and understand them. This is what AI is really freaking good at. And it seems like these are the These are some things that the Department of War wants lifted. Now, it's important to say that they say they they're not going to necessarily use these for these purposes, but in my opinion, like why ask them to get lifted if you're not going to intend on using them. That was a defense which I didn't think held any more water. Anthropic said no, we're not going to do that. They were given till Friday. Uh well, today, I guess. I don't know why I said thought Friday. They released it early potentially. So, like give them an answer. And they are standing firm and this is Dario's announcement on why they're not doing it. And again, it just comes down to them being against this sort of stuff, which this is stuff that really freaking matters, right? This is stuff that we really should be talking about and and and acknowledging that they're refusing to allow the government to to do mass domestic surveillance. And just to outline what uh Dario has said, it's from the automatic uh weaponry perspective. He's highlighted the technology isn't there. Um that it it can be used, but mistakes happen and friendly fire can happen. So, he's suggesting that they don't use this and they're not going to unlock something that the technology is not there for. And then the mass surveillance thing, it's more of a moral stance that Dario has taken that it's not like it can't do it. It's actually very, very capable of doing it, but that's just something they will not allow with their with their tool. And since recording this, OpenAI have come forward saying they are going to provide the Department of War with facilitating this sort of stuff, which as actual fact come with a lot of backlash from the community, from online. And a lot of people are canceling their ChatGPT subscriptions in favor of Claude simply because of this. I personally don't agree with OpenAI's stance and I think Sam Altman is definitely using this as leverage and an opportunity to um get in get in front of the spotlight, which is totally a Sam Altman thing, in my opinion. So, yeah, the the the the contract has been moved over to OpenAI. And also, the Department of War and Donald Trump have landed Anthropic as a supply chain risk, which is going above and beyond with regards to just saying, you know, we're not going to use you guys anymore. That's fine. They've gone ahead and any vendor that's uh linked to the Department of War that is using Anthropic, they are to cancel their uh subscriptions and and usage of Claude. So, it's just it's it's it's gone deeper than just the Depar- Department of War um saying no. They're telling their vendors to also say no, or otherwise their contracts will be getting removed. It's it's petty and extreme. And I do want to suggest an interview with CBS that Dario um made. I I really didn't like the attitude of the interviewer in a very patronizing way like Why do you think that it is better for Anthropic, a private company, to have more say in how AI is used in the military than the Pentagon itself? I I just couldn't help but think, yes. Yes, they do know more than Department of War, but of course Dario can't say that. Uh but they of course know far more about the capabilities of AI, where it should and shouldn't be used, where it can and can't be effective because they are the cutting edge of AI. They They are bound to know more. They should be a consultant to the Department of War first and foremost when it comes to what is AI capable of, where are its shortcomings. And and here they are telling them that it's not capable of doing automatic weaponry outside of the morality um aspects of it. They're saying it's not quite there yet and they they're not listening. But it is a great interview. I think Dario holds himself very well against the interviewer. Although, I don't think she pushes him hard enough or you know, they they talk about the whole mass surveillance thing. It's very much focused on the automatic weaponry side of things. Um they don't seem to be bothered at all by mass surveillance, which again, I think is a huge thing and one of the biggest things as to why people are leaving uh OpenAI in favor of Claude. I think Claude would could potentially turn a new leaf on all of this [music] if war starts to take place because um uh Ukraine are apparently using autonomous drones with AI and stuff. And in fact, just a point there, Dario even said himself, like this stuff isn't reliable enough. Like they don't want to they don't want to give them something that just is not like not that they would if they if it was reliable, but it is just another stance to say, look, this this stuff isn't there yet. And we we all know this. Like if war starts to happen, if the Department of War suddenly becomes a Department of Defense, let's say, then I think potentially Claude could Anthropic could step forward and do this and and you know, comply and all the rest of it. On the offset, I I I I'm proud of Anthropic for standing firm. I'm I'm the this this is bound to be millions and potentially even billions of dollars that they're throwing away because then they'll lose their current contracts with the Department of Defense or Department of War, whatever the hell they are. So, it's not only going to lose them a contract, it's going to lose them it's going to lose them existing contracts. So, yeah. Um pretty hairy stuff. It'll be interesting to see how this develops. Maybe there's maybe there's going to be a response from the Department of War. Um but Anthropic has stayed firm and you know, more power to them. This is part of a larger conversation on my show, Command AI, which we stream live every single week. We discuss the news and all things related to AI in the world of design and web. Catch us next week and join in the banter. Command AI