Anthropic Made Pitch in Drone Swarm Contest During Pentagon Feud

Anthropic PBC was among the artificial intelligence companies that submitted a proposal earlier this year to compete in a $100 million Pentagon prize challenge to produce technology for voice-controlled, autonomous drone swarming, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company made the submission during fraught negotiations with the Defense Department over Anthropic’s red lines for how its technology was to be used by the military, according to the people, who asked not to be named to discuss sensitive matters. On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to bar its contractors and their partners from any commercial activity with Anthropic.