Anthropic

Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logo are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison) ORG XMIT: NYPT903

I want to be โ€œwokeโ€ if that is what it takes to stop Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from using AI technology developed by Dario Amodei.

As the CEO of Anthropic, the company that developed Claude, Amodei warns that it is not safe to let it develop autonomous weapons without human involvement, something that Hegseth doesnโ€™t seem to care about. Amodei also believes that Claude should not be used to conduct mass surveillance of American citizens. This is currently illegal, but Hegseth calls such thinking โ€œwoke,โ€ ranting and raving against something, believing that no one company can dictate his operational decisions.

However, I call putting brakes on such use of AI โ€œprudentโ€ until we have a national debate and bipartisan conversation on this issue. Folks, it is not just about what happens when we eliminate millions of white-collar jobs anymore or if your plumber will be a robot. It is opening Pandoraโ€™s Box without looking at possible unintended consequences down the road and its impact on the very core of America. Letโ€™s be โ€œwokeโ€ and go into this with our eyes wide open.

PATRICIA BECKER

New Orleans