Anthropic PBC Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei will meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, according to a senior Pentagon official, as contract talks with the artificial intelligence startup remain deadlocked over the company’s insistence on guardrails for use of its technology.

There were no further details on the meeting between Amodei and Hegseth, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Pentagon had grown concerned that the company did not support its aims after hearing it had questions about how its AI was used during the U.S. operation last month that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the official said.

In a statement Monday, Anthropic said it was committed to protecting national security and that it was conducting “productive conversations” with defense officials. It offered a different interpretation of the Pentagon’s claim the company had questions about the Maduro raid.

“Anthropic has not discussed the use of Claude for specific operations with the Department of War,” the company said, via a spokesperson. “We have also not discussed this with, or expressed concerns to, any industry partners outside of routine discussions on strictly technical matters.”

Anthropic is also seeking additional protections governing use of its Claude AI tool, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last week. Those conditions would include measures to stop it from being used for mass surveillance of Americans or to develop weapons that can be deployed without a human involved.

The company’s stance has prompted objections from the Pentagon, which wants to be able to use Claude as long as its deployment doesn’t break the law. A Defense Department spokesman said last week the company’s relationship with the Pentagon was under review. “Our nation requires that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

Axios reported earlier Monday on the meeting between Amodei and Hegseth, citing people familiar with the matter, who described it as decisive moment in the discussions over the contract.

Anthropic positions itself as a company focused on the responsible use of AI with a goal of avoiding catastrophic harms from the technology. It built Claude Gov specifically for U.S. national security purposes and aims to serve government customers within its own ethical bounds.

“Claude is used for a wide variety of intelligence-related use cases across the government,” including by the Defense Department, in line with the company’s usage policy, Anthropic said in its statement.

(With assistance from Olivia Solon.)

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