WASHINGTON (March 6, 2026) – The Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk while its AI model, Claude, is reportedly being used in systems helping identify targets in Iran. At the same time, OpenAI negotiated an agreement with the Pentagon.
Jessica Tillipman, associate dean for government procurement law studies at the George Washington University Law School, says these developments suggest that the rules governing military AI are increasingly being set through procurement contracts between the Pentagon and tech companies, rather than through laws or regulations. She can explain why this “regulation by contract” approach may be not be well equipped to govern issues like surveillance, autonomous weapons, and intelligence oversight.
To schedule an interview with Tillipman, please contact Claire Sabin at claire [dot] sabin
gwu [dot] edu (claire[dot]sabin[at]gwu[dot]edu).
-GW-