Anthropic’s $200M Pentagon AI Deal Collapses Over Safety Disputes, Highlighting Startup Risks in Federal Contracts

featured 43Anthropic’s Pentagon Deal is a Cautionary Tale for Startups Chasing Federal Contracts In July 2025, Anthropic inked a landmark $200 million contract with the Pentagon, making its AI model Claude the first frontier model approved for classified networks—but by February 2026, the deal imploded over irreconcilable terms on AI safety, leading to a presidential ban…