A senior Pentagon official, Emil Michael, has warned that commercial AI contracts signed under the Biden administration could potentially paralyze U.S. military missions in real time, including planning and executing combat operations. The contracts, which Michael reviewed, were structured so that if an operator violated the terms of service, the model could stop mid-operation. Concerns were raised when an unnamed AI company raised questions about its software, Claude, which was reportedly used in a successful military operation. The disclosures may explain the dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense.