Anthropic back on ‘right side’ with Trump admin after Pentagon flap: Howard Lutnick

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Anthropic is "back on the right side" with the Trump administration after a federal judge ruled the Pentagon's blacklisting of the AI company unlawful, according to Axios. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had blocked Anthropic from certain military contracts over its refusal to allow its Claude AI models for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons, prompting Anthropic to sue. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown appeared at a G20 event in North Carolina, urging officials to grant permits for data centers.

Anthropic back on ‘right side’ with Trump admin after Pentagon flap: Howard Lutnick By Reuters Published Sep. 2, 2026, 4:19 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The New York Post on Google https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=nypost.com Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said AI giant Anthropic is “back on the right side” with the Trump administration, Axios reported https://www.axios.com/2026/09/02/lutnick-anthropic-trump on Wednesday citing an interview. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had blocked Anthropic from certain military contracts https://nypost.com/2026/03/05/business/pentagon-labels-anthropic-supply-chain-risk-days-after-ceo-lashed-out-at-trump-openai/ because the company refused to allow the US to use its Claude AI models for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. Anthropic sued in California court. On Aug. 27, a US judge sided with Anthropic https://nypost.com/2026/08/28/tech/pentagon-blacklisting-anthropic-ruled-unlawful/ in the company’s fight with the American military over AI safety on the battlefield. Anthropic and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown appeared on stage at a tech-focused G20 event in North Carolina on Wednesday morning. Brown stressed the importance of data centers at the gathering, urging the gathered officials to grant permits to build them in their countries.