Published: 01:21 AM, 17 March 2026
US administrators are rubbing tech enterprises on the wrong side of the shoulders
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is inviting San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) developer Anthropic to grow its footprint in his city, while criticizing the Trump administration for seeking retribution against the company.
Sir Sadiq's letter to Anthropic boss Dario Amodei came as the Pentagon designated Anthropic a supply chain risk after Amodei refused to give US defence agencies unfettered access to its AI tools.
"It is extremely concerning to see this kind of behaviour, which is a clear attempt to intimidate and punish Anthropic for refusing to remove ethical safeguards," Sir Sadiq wrote.
Anthropic said it planned to challenge the designation in court.
Asked about the mayor's letter and his offer, a White House spokesperson told the BBC: "As President Trump said, we will never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our United States Military fights wars".
A spokesperson for the London Mayor's office told reporters that there have been discussions this week with "senior leaders" of the company.
In talks with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Amodei took issue with the prospect of having Anthropic's Claude model used to conduct mass domestic surveillance or autonomous military targeting. The Pentagon has said the military must be able to use technology "for all lawful purposes" and argued those feared uses would violate the law and were not planned.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said he would direct every federal agency to immediately stop using technology from AI developer Anthropic.
"I applaud your steadfastness in the face of such pressure," Sir Khan wrote. "It would be good to discuss how we could support you to expand operations further."
He added that London "could provide an even more significant location and platform for the future of Anthropic".
Sir Sadiq's letter could position London as a viable alternative for Anthropic as the company's relationship with the US government continues to deteriorate.
The White House has reportedly come up with stricter rules for civilian artificial intelligence contracts.
These guidelines would require AI companies to permit "any lawful" use of their models, the Financial Times (FT) has reported.
The report, citing a draft of the guidelines seen by the news outlet, says the rules stipulate that companies wishing to work with the government give the U.S. an irreversible license to use their systems for all legal purposes.
The guidance from the U.S. General Services Administration would cover civilian contracts and is part of a government-wide effort to bolster procurement of AI services, the report added.
A source familiar with the matter said the rules are similar in principle to measures the Pentagon is weighing for military contracts.
