Comment by perfmode

3 days ago

> But Anthropic has concerns over two issues that it isn’t willing to drop, the source said: AI-controlled weapons and mass domestic surveillance of American citizens.

Not a good look for the Pentagon.

15 comments

perfmode

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bigbadfeline  3 days ago

> Not a good look for the Pentagon.

It's now the Department of War and war isn't known for its concern about looking good.

We all know how this will end, they know it too - both sides - ergo, it's a clear case of blame washing - Anthropic will do everything they're told but will keep a smiley face and the image of a "fighter for the people". DOW will absorb the blame like a sponge and will ask for more, not necessarily from Anthropic.

  • mullingitover  2 days ago

    > It's now the Department of War

    (By the National Security Act of 1947 and its 1949 amendment, it is the Department of Defense, and nothing short of an act of congress changes that. The executive order secondarily naming it the department of war has as much legal weight as my personal order naming it the Department of Brainrot or Whatever.)

    • kelipso  2 days ago

      This reminds me of that scene where Ned Stark goes and shows a legal document to Cersei and she tears up the piece of paper. It’s DoW because all the official documents, websites, buildings, communications, whatever say it’s DoW, everyone in the chain calls it DoW, etc. Some piece of paper from 1949 doesn’t change that.

      3 replies →

drivingmenuts  3 days ago

Their unwillingness to bend on those requirements seems like an admission that they are very interested in those things, if not already doing them.

PearlRiver  2 days ago

A couple of years ago the Netherlands accidentally bombed an Iraqi village off the map after getting some questionable intel from the US. Not a single American ever gave a shit but it was a little bit of a scandal for the Dutch government- which was quickly fixed in the typical Dutch way of transferring some money to the victims.

I just don't see how AI dropping the bombs is going to make anything worse.

  • cpncrunch  2 days ago

    > I just don't see how AI dropping the bombs is going to make anything worse

    A lot more bombs, and claims of the targets being based on intelligence. Essentially what seems to have resulted in the destruction of Gaza.

looperhacks  3 days ago

The Pentagon is pretty high on my list of "institutions that are probably very interested in weapons and surveillance". I think it's more expected than a bad look

  • thewebguyd  3 days ago

    The core difference being, they should be interested in weapons and surveillance to be used against enemies of the state which, historically, is not supposed to be the country's own citizens.

    As in, I fully expect the pentagon to be interested in weapons. I do not expect, and would hope they don't pursue, mass surveillance against their own population.