Rep. George Whitesides Urges Safeguards and Oversight Following Reports of Pentagon AI Ultimatum

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman George Whitesides (CA-27), a member of the House Armed Services Committee,sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth following reports that the Pentagon issued an ultimatum to Anthropic demanding "unrestricted" military access to its artificial intelligence technology or risk losing its government contract. Secretary Hegseth gave Anthropic a near-term deadline to remove certain safety guardrails from the company's AI systems, including limits related to fully autonomous military targeting and domestic surveillance.

"We are reaching an inflection point with artificial intelligence," said Rep. Whitesides. "AI has the potential to strengthen our national security and deliver extraordinary benefits across American life, but powerful technologies deployed without clear guardrails, transparency, and accountability risk eroding public trust and undermining the very democratic values we are trying to defend. Today, I urged Secretary Hegseth to pause any decision that would remove AI guardrails until Congress can work with the Department to establish proper safety and oversight."

In his letter, Rep. Whitesides expressed concern that compelling a private company to abandon established safety policies on an accelerated timeline could set a dangerous precedent for how AI is deployed in high-stakes national security contexts. The Department of Defense has awarded AI contracts worth up to $200 million to Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI as part of its effort to integrate advanced AI tools into military systems, including classified and unclassified networks.

The letter calls on the Department to pause any decision related to the reported ultimatum and to work with Congress to establish clear, lawful, and ethical frameworks for AI use in national defense.

You can read the full letter here.

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