Pete Hegseth Wants Killer AI

February 26, 2026

Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, threatens $200m contract cut over 'woke AI.'

Background: In July of 2025, the Pentagon awarded 4 contracts of $200m each to AI companies OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT), Google (Gemini), xAI (Grok), and Anthropic (Claude). The goal was to integrate AI in the operations of the US military, including its use on the battlefield.

What's happening: The Pentagon, under Pete Hegseth, wants to use AI for mass surveillance of US citizens and autonomous killing with no human oversight. They want the AI companies to remove safeguards that would prevent this.

The threat: Anthropic, an AI company that advertises itself as safety-focused, has refused to remove their safeguards. Their CEO was threatened with retaliation by Hegseth if they did not comply. Anthropic's contract would be terminated and they would be labeled a national security threat. Some sources have also reported that Hegseth intends to continue using Anthropic's AI model, even without the company's consent. Using the Defense Production Act, Hegseth would compel Anthropic to allow the military to use their tools "if they want to or not." 

The latest: Anthropic has been given a deadline of Friday to comply with Pete Hegseth's request or face consequences. Let's not gloss over the fact that Anthropic is the only company that is reported to have refused the request. This suggests that OpenAI, Google, and xAI have all complied and will allow their AI to perform mass surveillance and autonomously execute humans.

The stakes have never been higher for having a technically competent Congress. When the Pentagon start using AI to monitor and kill, our representatives cannot stand on the sidelines. I'm running for Congress to ensure we regulate AI and provide oversight of the executive branch as it utilizes it in misguided and dangerous ways.