Anthropic shakes off Pentagon beef as annual revenue surges past astonishing $19 billion

AI giant Anthropic disclosed on Wednesday that its annual revenue has surpassed $19 billion, which is more than double where its run rate sat late last year ($9 billion) as the company continues its middle finger act to the US Department of Defense.

According to Anthropic, the surge came from heavier use of Anthropic AI models and products, including its coding tool Claude Code.

Tech lobby warns Pete about the supply chain label

On the same day meanwhile, the Information Technology Industry Council sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over reports tied to Anthropic.

The group said it was worried about the Department considering a supply chain risk designation linked to a procurement dispute.

The council’s members include Nvidia, Amazon, and Apple. In the letter dated Wednesday, the group wrote, “We are concerned by recent reports regarding the Department of War’s consideration of imposing a supply chain risk designation in response to a procurement dispute.”

The letter did not name Anthropic directly. It stayed focused on what the designation could do to companies working with the federal government and what it could mean for the military’s access to top tools and services.

The letter also said the designation threatens “to undermine the government’s access to the best-in-class products and services from American companies that serve all agencies and components of the federal government,” based on a copy seen by Reuters.

The Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has renamed the Department of War, said it “will respond directly to the authors as appropriate,” as it does with all correspondence.

The letter landed after a heated dispute that ran for weeks between Anthropic and the Pentagon over technology guardrails on Claude tools used by the military.

Last week, President Donald Trump announced a federal agency-wide ban on Anthropic with a six-month phaseout period. After that announcement, Pete ordered Pentagon suppliers to purge Anthropic AI tools from their supply chains.

This letter is also the first major public show of support Anthropic has received from the broader tech industry. That matters because this circle includes Anthropic investors, suppliers, and customers.

Jason pushes formal channels as Anthropic signs Rwanda deal

In the same letter, ITI CEO Jason Oxman said contract disputes should be handled through continued negotiation or by choosing alternate providers through established channels. Jason wrote:-

“Emergency authorities such as supply chain risk designations exist for genuine emergencies and are typically reserved for entities that have been designated as foreign adversaries.”

Jason then urged the department to work through the Federal Acquisition Security Council when weighing whether a private company poses a legitimate supply chain risk. That council was created to evaluate risk in federal procurement.

Jason added that many members of the council have long partnered with the federal government and provide “mission-critical capabilities” to the Pentagon.He warned that forcing changes tied to the designation would be disruptive.He wrote, “Our member companies strive to provide best-in-class solutions to meet the needs of U.S. departments and agencies.”

Jason also wrote, “Removing parts of these solutions, as would be required based on recent reports, will be a complex endeavor.” The letter was copied to other parts of the government.

While the policy fight plays out, Anthropic is still stacking business wins. Anthropic is now valued at about $380 billion, and several Anthropic products have gone viral this year for helping users automate harder tasks, including Claude Code.

Outside the U.S. government fight, Anthropic also signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding in Kigali with Rwanda’s government.Under the MoU, Anthropic will work with Rwanda to deploy Anthropic AI tech across multiple public sectors, including health and education.

The agreement is the first time the San Francisco-based Anthropic has signed a formal multi-sector government partnership on the African continent.

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