President Donald Trump issued a memo on June 5 that calls on national security agencies to accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), while noting that the technology should not be used for “unlawful surveillance activities.”
The memo comes after Trump issued an executive order on June 2 that asks AI companies to voluntarily submit their advanced AI models to the federal government for testing “up to 30 days before they plan to release such models to other trusted partners.”
“Under my Administration, the United States can and will responsibly accelerate the use of AI across intelligence and warfighting domains in line with American values,” Trump wrote in the national security memorandum.
The memorandum states that agencies may terminate contracts with companies that repeatedly engage in conduct inconsistent with the policy objectives laid out in the memo.
The memo gives the secretary of defense 90 days to issue an updated directive on autonomy in weapon systems and calls for an annual review to account for rapid changes in AI capabilities.
It also directs the Committee on National Security Systems and the Office of Management and Budget – working with relevant technology and intelligence community leaders – to issue policy within 90 days for governing AI use in national security systems, including implementation and reporting requirements.
Within 120 days, the Pentagon, the director of national intelligence, and agencies with intelligence community elements must review and update procurement processes to support rapid onboarding of advanced AI models from multiple vendors.
The memorandum also orders a roadmap within 90 days “to ensure that all elements of the national security enterprise have adequate access to advanced computing resources.” That roadmap should include advanced AI computing facilities with high-security requirements and an AI test range for national security use cases, subject to appropriations.
“The national security enterprise will never develop or deploy AI to censor free speech, embed ideological bias, or conduct unlawful surveillance against the American people,” the White House said in a fact sheet on the memo. “Civil liberties and Constitutional protections are non-negotiable.”
The memo follows a clash between Anthropic and the Department of Defense (DOD) over the AI company’s restrictions on military uses of its AI models. The Trump administration has rebranded the DOD to the Department of War.
The dispute began after Anthropic refused to allow its systems to be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. Trump later ordered federal agencies to cut ties with the company, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” a label typically associated with foreign national security threats.
Anthropic has filed two lawsuits alleging illegal retaliation.