Anthropic applied to participate in a $100 million Department of Defense competition to develop voice-controlled, AI-powered autonomous drone swarms during a consultation with the Department of Defense.
Anthropic's contract with the Department of Defense for the use of AI included AI safety measures that prohibited the use of AI in the development of fully autonomous weapons, leading to the contract being terminated by the Department of Defense, which wanted to use AI for all purposes. Amid discussions with the Department of Defense over how to use AI, it has now been revealed that Anthropic has applied to participate in a competition to control autonomous drone swarms.
Anthropic Made Pitch in Drone Swarm Contest During Pentagon Feud - Bloomberg
According to Bloomberg, Anthropic applied to participate in a Department of Defense competition for voice-activated autonomous drone swarm control technology in early 2026, at a time when the company was in discussions with the Department of Defense about military applications for its technology.
The existence of this competition, which was previously announced, was reportedly aimed at developing advanced technology that could convert voice commands into digital instructions to operate multiple drones. While it is already possible to fly multiple drones simultaneously, developing software to command multiple drones as a swarm at sea and in the air and move autonomously while tracking targets remains a challenge, and the Department of Defense was reportedly looking for companies that could achieve this goal.
Some have pointed out that Anthropic's participation in such a contest may contradict the AI safety measures it advocates. While Anthropic provides custom models of its AI, 'Claude,' to government agencies, it explicitly prohibits 'mass surveillance of citizens' and 'development of fully autonomous weapons.' The Department of Defense (DoD) approached Anthropic about relaxing the restrictions, but Anthropic refused, forcing the DoD to choose between terminating the relationship or lifting the restrictions. Ultimately, Anthropic persisted , leading the DoD to choose to terminate the relationship and, in retaliation, to designate Anthropic as a 'supply chain risk,' a designation never applied to domestic companies, restricting its use by government agencies.
President Trump claims that Anthropic's left-wing fanatics have attempted to control the U.S. military, and orders the severance of ties. Secretary of Defense Hegseth will designate Anthropic as a 'supply chain risk' - GIGAZINE
According to a person familiar with the matter, Anthropic did not expect the technology it developed for the competition to deviate from its safety procedures. The company's proposal focused on using its AI, Claude, to translate a commander's intent into digital instructions to lead a fleet of drones. The company said the AI would not be used for autonomous targeting or weapon deployment decisions, and while it could ultimately create a swarm of drones that could threaten human lives, it would be designed with humans able to monitor and shut down the system if necessary.
There would also be human oversight of the system, and the company wanted to establish a joint research program with the Department of Defense to safely develop and evaluate autonomous weapons capabilities, the people added.
Anthropic was not included among the companies selected, according to a person familiar with the matter, and it is unclear why. Anthropic has repeatedly stated that it supports the broad and lawful use of AI in warfare, excluding mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, but argues that AI is not mature or reliable enough to operate autonomous weapons systems.
Anthropic has been forced out of government service following a split with the Department of Defense, which wants to apply AI to autonomous weapons systems. Senior officials at the State, Treasury, and Health and Human Services departments have told their employees to stop using Claude and instead use other AI, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.
It has also been reported that SpaceX and xAI were also participating in the contest that has been the talk of the town.
Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI reportedly participated in a secret contest hosted by the Department of Defense to build a swarm of voice-controlled drones - GIGAZINE
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