Anthropic, a company that has positioned itself as a more safety-conscious alternative to Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) backed OpenAI, has announced a partnership with Amazon.com Inc's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon Web Services and Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR) to provide its Claude A.I. models to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies.
What Happened: The deal, announced on Monday, will see Jeff Bezos-backed Anthropic's Claude A.I. models being used by U.S. defense and intelligence agencies for tasks such as data processing and document preparation, reported the Observer.
This move aligns with the growing trend of artificial intelligence companies providing their technologies to the U.S. government.
Between August 2022 and 2023, the value of A.I.-related federal contracts surged by 150% to $675 million. The U.S. Department of Defense has emerged as a major player in this space, with the value of its AI-related contracts increasing from $190 million to $557 million during this period.
Anthropic's Claude A.I. models will be accessible to government customers through Palantir's platform on AWS. This access is expected to significantly enhance intelligence analysis, decision-making processes, and operational efficiency across departments.
According to Anthropic's usage policy, the company is permitted to enter into contracts with "carefully selected government entities" for "foreign intelligence analysis in accordance with applicable law." However, the use of its A.I. systems for disinformation campaigns, weapon design, censorship, domestic surveillance, and "malicious" cyber operations remains restricted.
Why It Matters: This announcement follows a similar move by Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META), which recently revealed plans to allow U.S. government agencies and contractors to use its open-source Llama A.I. models for defense and national security applications.
Microsoft also teamed up with Palantir in August to offer A.I. software and capabilities to defense-focused U.S. federal agencies.
Earlier in the year, Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Project Jarvis and Anthropic were reported to be making significant advancements in AI-powered web browsing capabilities.