Hi, Brian Lairer here.

Up next, Brian Lairor Weekend,

three of our favorite segments from the week,

packaged together for you to listen to on the weekend.

So enjoy, and I'll see you back on the radio Monday at 10 a.m.

on WNYC on WNYC.

Good morning, everyone. So let's talk about a standoff in the war

that's not between the U.S. and Iran. You may have heard this. You may have not heard this.

It's between the U.S. and the artificial intelligence company Anthropic. Now, Anthropic has

certain ethical guidelines that it tries to abide by in its AI product known as Claude.

They want to adhere to these ethical standards, even though they are a defense contractor voluntarily doing business with the Pentagon.

This is a war-specific dispute, yes, but it also raises questions for so much of the growing use of artificial intelligence

in so many parts of society and so many aspects of our lives. But on this specific story,

here's where the drama began. Last July, Anthropic became the first AI company to receive a

contract with the Department of War,

or still Department of Defense, if you prefer.

In this contract, Anthropic was granted national security clearances,

which allowed Claude to be used on the military's classified networks,

making it the first AI model ever to operate at that level.

But paked into that contract was a catch.

Anthropics' own terms of service, which prohibit Claude from being used in autonomous weapon

systems, we'll explain what that means, or for the mass surveillance of American citizens.

...