Google and Microsoft said they will continue working with artificial intelligence company Anthropic on non-defense projects after the U.S. Department of Defense blacklisted the firm from federal contracts.
Google said it will maintain its partnership with Anthropic for projects outside the defense sector, one day after Microsoft told customers that Anthropic technology will remain available for use by non-defense clients.
The Pentagon designated Anthropic a “supply-chain risk to national security,” according to an announcement by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth said contractors and suppliers connected to the U.S. military are barred from working with the company, describing Anthropic as “fundamentally incompatible with American principles” and saying its relationship with the U.S. government had been “permanently altered.”
The designation followed a dispute over artificial intelligence safeguards, according to reports.
Google said the determination does not prevent collaboration with Anthropic on non-defense initiatives.
“We understand that the determination does not preclude us from working with Anthropic on non-defense related projects, and their products remain available through our platforms, like Google Cloud,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement reported by CNBC.
Google and Anthropic maintain a multibillion-dollar partnership that includes cloud infrastructure, financial investment and product integration.
Google had invested about $3 billion in Anthropic as of early 2026, according to reports.
Microsoft also said Anthropic technology would remain accessible to customers outside the defense industry following a legal review of the Pentagon’s designation.
The company, which has committed to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, said its products and services that incorporate Anthropic’s Claude models would continue to be available to non-defense users.
Anthropic develops artificial intelligence systems, including the Claude family of large language models, which are integrated into a range of cloud and enterprise software products.
The Pentagon’s designation was first announced by Hegseth in a written message posted on social media platform X and later followed by a formal written notification sent to the company.
Under the determination, businesses linked to U.S. military contracts are prohibited from engaging with Anthropic, but the restriction does not extend to commercial activity outside the defense sector.
Other technology companies with partnerships in the cloud and AI infrastructure market have not yet publicly responded to the designation.
Amazon, another major cloud services provider, has not issued a statement on the matter.
The responses from Google and Microsoft indicate that their partnerships with Anthropic will continue in commercial areas such as cloud services and enterprise technology despite the Pentagon’s restriction on defense-related work.
