India, Feb. 28 -- The fight between the US government and Anthropic is no longer a contract negotiation dispute. It is a clash over killer robots and mass surveillance - and over who decides how artificial intelligence is used in war. At the centre is a blunt question: can a private AI company refuse to let its systems be used for fully autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance, even if the Pentagon says such uses are lawful?

That question has now exploded into public view with both Anthropic and the US government refusing to budge. US President Donald Trump on Friday ordered federal agencies to immediately stop using Anthropic's AI tools, a day after the tech giant rejected the Pentagon's demand for "any lawful use" of its model...