The power struggle between Anthropic and the Trump administration is over who should set the ethical red lines around AI technology, which could potentially end privacy or allow it to make life-or-death decisions. Anthropic argues that its AI should not enable mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon, however, disagrees and accuses Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei of trying to unilaterally set U.S. AI policy. The debate is about the extent to which democratic will should override the moral prerogatives of a private company. Critics argue that if Anthropic is right that AI will determine the course of human civilization, democratically elected governments should be in a better position to deploy the technology to benefit as many as possible. However, the controversy could present more challenges given that Congress has been largely punting on policy.