George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian image of a totalitarian state ruled by an omnipresent government, seems almost quaint when compared to 2026 reality. When Orwell wrote in 1949, of the constant surveillance of all citizens, he did not envision the future that was a mere 77 years away.
In his novel, 1984, Orwell’s character Winston was charged with rewriting history at the Ministry of Truth. Facts were manipulated to allow the government to maintain power governing the superstate, Oceania. Citizens were under constant surveillance through telescreens. There was no privacy.
In the novel, 2026, yet to be written, we find that those “telescreens” are now cellphones, computers, CCTV, and smart home devices. People willingly give up their privacy in exchange for a seat at the social media table. Data gleaned from those devices now contain mountains of datapoints on every “connected” citizen.
The enormous volume of data would take more human analysis than would be practical in order for it to be useful. Enter Artificial Intelligence, or AI. This emerging technology can now do that work in a fraction of the time. It is now possible for an interested party to use AI to predict where you are or will be at any moment, where you work, where you shop, what you like to eat, how you vote, how much money you have, how much debt your have, where you like to eat, your medical conditions, your political positions - almost every aspect of your life is recorded.
The most sophisticated AI engines are owned by corporations, but our government can contract with them to spy on its own citizens. They will cite terrorism and national security in their justification, but its use for political purposes is well within its grasp.
Up to now, the business of AI has been concerned with the technology and the monetization of that effort. The ethics of its use fell largely to “others,” as that was outside their business model. This is not unlike a gun manufacturer who only builds the guns and leaves the ethics of the use of its products to the end consumer.
When Anthropic was negotiating government contracts for its AI model, Claude, especially with the defense departments, it finally raised the questions of ethics. They wanted only two restrictions placed on their product’s use.
First, they didn’t want the information to be used in lethal weapon systems that can engage targets without human oversight. Their concern was that current AI models are not reliable enough for life and death decisions. The company thought such use would pose significant dangers.
Secondly, Anthropic did not want Claude to be used for the widespread surveillance of American citizens. They thought it would be unethical for the government to use its product to violate fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The U.S. Department of Defense wanted these restrictions removed. They preferred the less restrictive terminology like “all lawful use.” As we have seen with the current administration, the term “lawful use” would mean unlimited use as the law is what they say it is, not those pesky written laws.
When Anthropic refused to remove these restrictions, the Trump administration (2/27/2026), designated them to be a “supply chain risk” and ordered all federal agencies to cease using the Anthropic technology. The term “supply chain risk” is normally reserved for foreign adversaries. Are Dario and Daniela Amodei headed for Room 101*?
Other companies like OpenAI and xAI signed agreements using the “all legal purposes” stamdard. The government is also now trying to enforce the restrictions on using Anthropic on its military contractors.
This calls into question the true nature of the government’s objections to the two Anthropic restrictions which would both seem to fall within the scope of “legal purposes.” Does this seem like our government wants to surveil its citizens without legal cause? We already learned what they think about obtaining legal warrants as everything seems to be exigent circumstances, national security, or my mother’s favorite, “because I said so.”
*Room 101 was the Party’s torture chamber in 1984. Dario and Daniela Amodei are the co-founders of Antrhopic.
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