OpenAI Reaches Pentagon Deal Hours After Anthropic Ban

OpenAI has reached a deal with the Pentagon just hours after the Trump administration banned U.S. government use of Anthropic, according to multiple published reports. The timing places OpenAI at the center of a fast-moving shift in how federal agencies may access and deploy leading commercial AI systems.

The reported agreement involves OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Defense. Details released publicly in the initial reports were limited, though one account characterized the deal as including “safeguards.” The development was reported by outlets including CNN, NBC News, Semafor and Barron’s.

The move comes after President Trump ordered the U.S. government to stop using Anthropic, according to NPR and other reports. Separate headlines described the Pentagon as implementing a ban on Anthropic, and noted that OpenAI’s arrangement with the Defense Department followed soon after.

Anthropic is the maker of the Claude AI model, one of the best-known large language models used in both private industry and government-adjacent work. OpenAI is the maker of ChatGPT and related AI systems that have been widely adopted across sectors. The reports did not specify which OpenAI products or capabilities are covered under the Pentagon agreement, nor did they provide contract terms.

This matters because the U.S. government is a major buyer of technology, and the Defense Department is among the most influential purchasers within it. A shift away from one prominent AI provider toward another could shape which tools federal personnel can use and which companies become central to government AI efforts.

It also underscores how quickly government policy decisions can reshape the competitive landscape for AI companies. A ban affecting one vendor can immediately change procurement options for agencies that need access to advanced AI systems for permissible tasks, from administrative work to analysis and other operations allowed under department rules.

The reports did not provide the administration’s detailed rationale for banning Anthropic, beyond describing it as a government-wide restriction ordered by President Trump. One headline reference also pointed to controversy involving military-related use of Anthropic’s Claude, though the underlying claims and official findings were not detailed in the provided context.

What happens next will depend on how the ban on Anthropic is implemented across agencies and how the Pentagon structures its work with OpenAI. Additional information is expected to emerge through formal Defense Department announcements, contract documentation, and statements from the companies involved.

For now, the immediate result is a newly reported Pentagon deal for OpenAI landing in the wake of a sudden federal cutoff of a major rival, sharpening the stakes around which AI systems the U.S. government will rely on going forward.