One Government, Two Voices: Recent Anthropic vs. Pentagon Developments Add To The Record Before The D.C. Circuit

Three things happened in the two weeks before oral argument in Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War, No. 26-1049 (D.C. Cir.), set for May 19. Each is, on its own, an item of public record. Taken together, they reshape parts of an evolving D.C. Circuit court record that is meaningfully different from what existed when that Court issued its stay denial on April 8.

The Record as of May 1

On April 17, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met at the White House with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The meeting was described as “introductory” and “constructive,” and focused on Anthropic’s new Mythos model.

Thirteen days later, on April 30, Pentagon head Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the FY2027 budget. Asked about AI procurement, he stated that “Anthropic is run by an ideological lunatic who shouldn’t have sole decision‑making over what we do.”