Anthropic is expanding Claude's capabilities by offering a free memory feature that lets the chatbot reference past conversations. Users can also import chats from rival bots and control memory storage by pausing or deleting data. At the same time, the company faces a high‑stakes contract dispute with the U.S. government after the Defense Secretary called Anthropic a "supply chain risk" for refusing a Pentagon contract. Anthropic says it will contest the designation while its chatbot enjoys top rankings in the App Store. Read more →

Anthropic’s chatbot Claude has surged to the number‑one spot in Apple’s U.S. free app store, overtaking OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The rapid climb, from outside the top 100 in January to first place within days, coincides with record daily sign‑ups, a 60% rise in free users since January, and a doubling of paid subscribers this year. The growth follows Anthropic’s contentious negotiations with the Pentagon, which led President Donald Trump to halt federal use of the company’s products and the Defense Secretary to label Anthropic a supply‑chain threat. OpenAI later announced its own Pentagon agreement with safeguards. Read more →

Anthropic has turned down a Pentagon request for unrestricted use of its AI models, citing concerns over mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous lethal weapons. The company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, emphasized a commitment to democratic values and offered to transition the military to alternative providers if required. The standoff follows a broader push by the Department of Defense to renegotiate AI contracts with multiple vendors, with some firms reportedly agreeing to the new terms while Anthropic remains firm on its red lines. Read more →

Anthropic announced a revision to its Responsible Scaling Policy, replacing hard safety tripwires with more flexible risk reports and safety roadmaps. The change follows reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged the company to grant the military unrestricted access to its Claude AI model, threatening penalties under the Defense Production Act. Anthropic’s leadership argued that strict halts on model training would no longer help anyone given the rapid pace of AI development. Critics warned the shift could erode safeguards and enable a gradual “frog‑boiling” of safety standards. Read more →