You cannot use Claude to help create, design, or acquire biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons, or any explosive designed to cause mass casualties — including finding ways to make such weapons harder to detect.
This analysis describes what Anthropic's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This clause establishes a categorical restriction on the use of the API for weapons development activities. The provision operationalizes Anthropic's prohibited use policy by specifying enumerated categories of weapons-related conduct that fall outside authorized service use.
The Pentagon's supply chain risk designation does not directly modify Anthropic's consumer-facing terms of service, but creates government-level procurement restrictions that may affect Anthropic's ability to contract with federal agencies and defense contractors. The designation reflects the Department of Defense's assessment that Anthropic's acceptable use policy restrictions on mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons present supply chain governance concerns under federal law. Commercial users of Anthropic's services are not directly subject to this designation, but federal agencies, defense contractors, and government-dependent organizations may face new contracting or compliance obligations when evaluating Anthropic as a vendor.
View change record →No user — including researchers, government contractors, or academics — is permitted to use Claude for CBRN weapons development under the standard AUP, though the governmental customer carve-out provision could theoretically modify this for certain defense contracts.
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"Synthesize, or otherwise develop, high-yield explosives or biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons or their precursors, including modifications to evade detection or medical countermeasures... Produce, modify, design, or illegally acquire weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life... Design or develop weaponization and delivery processes for the deployment of weapons.Excerpt from Anthropic's API Usage Policy
(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision directly implicates the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act (18 U.S.C.
Enforcement risk, jurisdiction flags, contract triggers, and due diligence action items.
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This clause establishes a categorical restriction on the use of the API for weapons development activities. The provision operationalizes Anthropic's prohibited use policy by specifying enumerated categories of weapons-related conduct that fall outside authorized service use.
No user — including researchers, government contractors, or academics — is permitted to use Claude for CBRN weapons development under the standard AUP, though the governmental customer carve-out provision could theoretically modify this for certain defense contracts.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 282 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic.