Mayor Sadiq Khan Invites Anthropic To Expand In London
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has invited US artificial intelligence firm Anthropic to expand its operations in the British capital amid escalating tensions between the company and the US government.
Khan extended the invitation in a letter to Anthropic’s chief executive, Dario Amodei, after the United States Department of Defense labelled the company a supply chain risk. The move came after Amodei reportedly declined requests to grant US defence agencies unrestricted access to the company’s AI systems.
In the letter, Khan criticised the decision and described it as an attempt to pressure the company over its refusal to remove ethical restrictions built into its technology.
“It is extremely concerning to see this kind of behaviour,” Khan wrote, adding that the action appeared to be intended to intimidate the company for maintaining safeguards around the use of its artificial intelligence tools.
Anthropic has said it plans to challenge the Pentagon’s designation in court.
The dispute centres on the potential use of Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, for military and surveillance purposes. During discussions with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Amodei reportedly raised concerns about the technology being deployed for mass domestic surveillance or for autonomous military targeting.
The Pentagon has rejected those claims, stating that any use of the technology would be limited to lawful applications and that the scenarios raised by the company were not under consideration.
The conflict intensified last week when Donald Trump announced that federal agencies would be directed to stop using technology developed by Anthropic.
Responding to Khan’s outreach, a spokesperson for the White House defended the administration’s stance, saying the government would not allow a “woke” technology company to influence how the US military operates.
Officials from the London mayor’s office confirmed that discussions had taken place this week with senior figures at Anthropic regarding the possibility of expanding the company’s presence in the UK.
Khan suggested that London could serve as a major base for the AI developer, offering support as the company navigates its strained relationship with the US government.
“I applaud your steadfastness in the face of such pressure,” he wrote to Amodei, adding that the city could provide a stronger platform for the company’s future growth.
Anthropic had previously been in talks with the Pentagon about potential partnerships, but those discussions have since collapsed. Emil Michael, the US under secretary of defense, confirmed in a post on X that there are currently no active negotiations between the Department of Defense and the company.
The designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk marks the first time a US technology company has been labelled as such by the Pentagon, signalling concerns within the government about the security of its products.
Some insiders at Anthropic had feared that the decision could affect its commercial relationships, particularly with companies that also supply technology to the US government.
However, those concerns appear to have been partly eased after Microsoft confirmed it would continue integrating Anthropic’s AI tools into its products for customers, with the exception of contracts involving the US Department of Defense.
Microsoft said its legal team had reviewed the designation and concluded that Anthropic’s technology, including the Claude AI model, could still be offered to its broader client base.
