According to foreign media, the U.S. Department of Defense (the Pentagon) is undergoing a major transformation in its AI procurement strategy. After classifying Anthropic's Claude series models as a "supply chain risk," the Pentagon quickly launched a six-month transition plan aimed at completely stopping the use of Anthropic's products and accelerating the construction of a diversified supplier system.

"Super User" Testing: From Single Procurement to Precise Matching

To ensure the strongest computing power support for the military in confidential networks, the Pentagon recently initiated an evaluation mechanism driven by "super users." This test officially started in early March, selecting 25 top AI professionals within the Department of Defense as the core evaluation group.

Testing Logic: The military not only focuses on the basic performance of the model but also emphasizes the model's logical reasoning, data security, and execution speed in complex confidential tasks.

Clear Objectives: By comparing various leading AI models, the military hopes to break its reliance on a single supplier and precisely identify a "replacement solution" that can fully replace Claude and meet the strict security standards of the U.S. military.

Diversification Strategy: Building an AI "Ecosystem Pool" in Confidential Networks

This change by the Pentagon is not merely about replacement but aims to reduce potential risks through a "multi-supplier model." At the beginning of this month, the Department of Defense officially announced deep cooperation agreements with several AI industry leaders whose identities remain undisclosed.

Risk Mitigation Deployment: Within three days of the Secretary of Defense declaring Anthropic as a risk source, the Pentagon initiated the selection process for alternative solutions with high efficiency.

Security Ecosystem Transition: By signing agreements with multiple suppliers, the military plans to deploy various AI tools on confidential networks. This approach aims to establish a highly resilient AI application ecosystem, allowing the system to smoothly switch to other backup suppliers when a particular supplier faces policy or supply chain risks, thereby ensuring the continuity of defense core systems.

Industry Background: The Logic of Defense Procurement in the Era of Large Models

This action marks a deeper stage in the global competition of large models. As artificial intelligence is regarded as "critical infrastructure," the "compliance conflicts" between private AI giants like Anthropic and national defense security are becoming increasingly evident. The Pentagon's series of measures not only reflect the U.S. military's extreme pursuit of autonomous control over the AI supply chain but also set new reference logic for future government-level AI procurement globally—that is, no longer just considering model performance, but placing "supply chain security" and "background of the model provider" at the core of strategic decision-making.

As the six-month transition period progresses, the Pentagon's reliance on third-party AI models in confidential networks will be completely restructured. This also indicates that in the future global competition of top AI, AI suppliers capable of meeting extreme security needs and possessing high reliability will have significant industry premium.