Congress must prevent AI surveillance. The anthropic feud proves it | Ashley Gorski and Patrick Toomey

TThe U.S. military wants to use its cutting-edge AI tools to increase surveillance of Americans, making it easier than ever to monitor our movements, search history, and private associations. That’s one of the key takeaways from a dramatic dispute between the Defense Department and some of America’s leading AI companies. But what this clash highlights more than anything is how easily AI surveillance systems can be used against people in this country and how urgent congressional action is needed.

Last week, the Pentagon and Donald Trump announced that the government would stop using Anthropic’s AI products, claiming that the company’s proposed security guardrails – no domestic mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons – were unacceptable. The Trump administration went even further, claiming that these positions made Anthropic a “supply chain risk” and banning anyone doing business with the US military…