IC Technology & Surveillance — 2026-05-25

Anthropic to Continue Supplying Claude AI to NSA Despite Pentagon Supply Chain Risk Designation

BLUFHardware scarcity, not policy preference, is driving this decision, making formal execution of the Mythos contract likely within 90 days and cementing a data-use template across intelligence AI procurement.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles authorized the NSA to continue using Anthropic's Claude despite the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation of the company, the New York Times reported 12. The arrangement was driven by a shortage of Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips on classified networks; Anthropic's "Mythos" model runs on older hardware and is, per the Times report, the only near-term option available for those systems 12. A contract being finalized includes a clause barring the model from processing Americans' data and omits the "any lawful use" language that had blocked earlier negotiations 1. The White House also approved a $9 billion emergency package for AI chips and specialized classified data centers, with Congress still required to vote; $800 million is being redirected from existing budgets to begin purchases immediately 2.

Analysis
Formal execution of the NSA-Anthropic "Mythos" contract is likely within the next 90 days, establishing a data-use restriction template the White House intends to apply across future intelligence AI procurement. Moderate confidence rests on a single primary source, but White House authorization at the chief-of-staff level and the absence of a near-term hardware alternative leave limited room to reverse course. The $800 million already redirected to chip purchases creates institutional momentum that would be costly to unwind before classified networks gain access to alternative frontier models.
6 sources
  1. Anthropic may keep supplying Claude to the NSA despite being flagged as a supply chain risk by the Pentagon - The Decoder
  2. The US blacklisted Anthropic as a security threat. Its spy agencies are using Claude anyway. - The Next Web
  3. White House Approves $9 Billion for Spy Agencies to Catch Up on AI - The New York Times (Dustin Volz & Julian E. Barnes)
  4. White House approves 9B for US spy agencies AI adoption - Crypto Briefing
  5. White House approves $9B for spy agencies to catch up on AI - The Philadelphia Inquirer
  6. White House Pushes $9B AI Chip Plan for U.S. Spy Agencies - Newsmax

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