Wyden Questions Major AI Companies About Federal Contracts After Pentagon Bans Anthropic

Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senator Ron Wyden questioned four major American artificial intelligence companies about their government contracts, after the Defense Department banned government agencies from using Anthropic,reportedlyover a disagreement about whether the company’s AI software could be used to conduct mass surveillance of Americans, in a letter released today.
Wyden requested information from Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and X.AI about how the companies’ government customers — in the U.S. and overseas — can use their AI products under the terms of their contracts. Press reports indicated the dispute was over whether the company’s product could be used to analyze and combine location and web browsing data obtained from commercial companies.
“Given this Administration’s disregard for the law and its weaponization of government resources against the President’s perceived enemies, every American should be deeply concerned by the prospect that the Trump Administration will abuse powerful AI technology to conduct domestic surveillance,”Wyden wrote.
Wyden hasdocumentedhow federal agenciesrepeatedlyhavepurchased datawithout warrants to conduct surveillance.
He asked the companies to specify whether their agreements with the U.S. and foreign governments prohibit the use of their products for the following purposes:
The text of the letter ishere.
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