Microsoft ↔ DoD

1.0.0-rc.1 · Evidence cutoff 12 September 2026

Directly documented interface

Deployment agreement

Named parties announce an agreement to deploy a provider capability in an identified environment. This records the agreement, not completed integration, equivalence to another system, procurement value, or operational dependence.

undirected. Announcement explicitly connects each named company with Department; not provider-to-provider collaboration.

Displayed claim → analysis (if present) → coded attributes → interface / instrument → atomic evidence → source version

Instrument and timeline

Instrument: Microsoft classified deployment agreement
Bindingness: Executed terms not inspected
Announced: 2026-05-01
Observed by: 2026-09-12 · publication-day; names observed at cutoff
Effective period: Unknown → Unknown
Event: Announced
Status at cutoff: unresolved/unknown
Last confirmation: 2026-05-01

Contemporary seven-company reporting versus current eight-company page concerns source version. No inference of amendment date; this named party appears in both lists.

Exact legal signatory and deployment completion unresolved.
Current page version is the dated observation; no silent continuity or update-date inference.

Status investigation

Checked 2026-09-12; assessed as of 2026-09-12. Last confirmation does not establish uninterrupted continuity.

amendments: Current eight-company version has no amendment date.
expiry: Unknown; full instrument not public in inspected source.
termination: No affirmative continuing-status evidence obtained.
restrictions: Lawful operational use announced; actual classified instrument not inspected.
succession: SpaceX not substituted for xAI.
conflicts: Version discrepancy retained.

Search queries

site.war.gov "Classified Networks AI Agreements" September termination amended

Analytical assessment

No reviewed analytical conclusion is attached. This does not establish independence or absence of an institutional constraint.

Coded attributes

substitution: unresolved

Feasibility of replacing a specified capability for its operational function within a stated time horizon.

User × capability/function × replacement horizon. Replacing Claude Gov for specified defence workflows; assessed 2026-08-27.

Modular replacement is a departmental objective and the supplier offered transition assistance. Neither demonstrates an equivalent replacement for a named function or migration time/cost. Materially constrained substitution and ready substitutability both remain unresolved.

Supporting evidence: court-use march-removal . Counterevidence: dod-modular-intent anthropic-transition-offer

Coding applies only to stated context and date, not a permanent institutional rank.

Published rubric anchors

readily-substitutable: Demonstrated alternative with achievable transition and equivalent required function.
costly-limited: Demonstrated alternative with identified migration cost or functional limitation.
materially-constrained: Evidence shows transition would impair required function or exceed operationally acceptable time/cost.
no-demonstrated-viable-substitute: A documented alternatives assessment finds none meets specified function/time constraints; search silence alone insufficient.

Unresolved when necessary evidence is missing or adjacent anchors cannot be distinguished. No numeric conversion. Absence requires affirmative remit or operational evidence, not missing sources.

operational-reliance: meaningful

Extent to which a named capability is incorporated into an identified institutional function, separately from substitution and provider control.

User × capability × function × period. Repeated Claude/Claude Gov assistance in defense and intelligence work, with supplier-reported planning, analysis and cyber functions; 2024–February 2026; assessed 2026-08-27.

Court-confirmed defense use since 2024 and Claude Gov use since March 2025, combined with specific supplier-reported operational functions, supports recurrent assistance. Workflow penetration and essentiality are not independently established enough to distinguish substantial or mission-relevant anchors. Transition efforts do not establish independence.

Supporting evidence: court-use anthropic-mission-use . Counterevidence: anthropic-transition-offer march-removal

Coding applies only to stated context and date, not a permanent institutional rank.

Published rubric anchors

incidental: Documented isolated experiment outside routine operation.
meaningful: Documented recurrent assistance to identified work with bounded integration.
substantial: Embedded use across recurring identified workflows; independent confirmation or operational detail required.
mission-relevant: Documented integration into an essential operational function; not inferred merely from institutional defence remit.

Unresolved when necessary evidence is missing or adjacent anchors cannot be distinguished. No numeric conversion. Absence requires affirmative remit or operational evidence, not missing sources.

substitution: unresolved

Feasibility of replacing a specified capability for its operational function within a stated time horizon.

User × capability/function × replacement horizon. Existing Claude-enabled operational assistance, March24 2026, immediate withdrawal horizon; assessed 2026-03-24.

Managed transition constrains immediate withdrawal, but the ordinal rubric cannot distinguish costly alternatives from material unavailability without a task-level comparison. The analytical transitional construct makes a narrower categorical finding.

Supporting evidence: cio-transition-continuity memo-transition-licences official-single-provider . Counterevidence: cio-alternative-architecture senate-alternatives-specific

No ordinal substitution intensity established; later alternatives do not retroactively eliminate a transition constraint.

Published rubric anchors

readily-substitutable: Demonstrated alternative with achievable transition and equivalent required function.
costly-limited: Demonstrated alternative with identified migration cost or functional limitation.
materially-constrained: Evidence shows transition would impair required function or exceed operationally acceptable time/cost.
no-demonstrated-viable-substitute: A documented alternatives assessment finds none meets specified function/time constraints; search silence alone insufficient.

Unresolved when necessary evidence is missing or adjacent anchors cannot be distinguished. No numeric conversion. Absence requires affirmative remit or operational evidence, not missing sources.

Atomic evidence and exact sources

DoW used Claude from 2024 and Claude Gov from March 2025 through partners.

Source: Anthropic v DoW: summary judgment, document 250 · US District Court, Northern District of California
Version: 2026-08-27; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Printed page 5, factual background
Limit: Identifies use, not a direct contract for every deployment.

Byte capture unavailable. HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Published document identity and locator remain recorded.

The April order records March designation, cancelled contracts and begun removal of Claude.

Source: Anthropic v DoD: order in 26-1049 · US Court of Appeals, DC Circuit
Version: 2026-04-08; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: PDF page 4, first page of attached per curiam statement
Limit: Historical action subject to later district judgment and separate litigation.

Retrieved bytes SHA-256: ddf657a5e34180ff2b4270ee0f1a84b6fa2ae28647e549ba4311d821179972d7

The Secretary directed modular architectures and documentation allowing third-party integration without prime-contractor support.

Source: Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the Department of War · Secretary of War / Department of Defense
Version: signed-2026-01-09; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Printed page 5, Modular Open Architectures paragraph
Limit: Substitution mitigation objective; no completed alternatives assessment or transition cost established.

Byte capture unavailable. HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Published document identity and locator remain recorded.

Anthropic reported Claude use for intelligence analysis, modeling and simulation, operational planning and cyber operations.

Source: Statement on Department of War discussions · Anthropic
Version: 2026-02-26; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Opening paragraph beginning Claude is extensively deployed
Limit: Supplier attribution for named functions; the court corroborates defense use but does not quantify reliance within each workflow.

Retrieved bytes SHA-256: cd14cdf2547de78b704d4a8ec079952f429fbb38547a89778cb60d524b644359

Anthropic offered continued model availability during an orderly transition to another provider if DoW offboarded it.

Source: Statement on Department of War discussions · Anthropic
Version: 2026-02-26; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Penultimate paragraph beginning Should the Department choose to offboard
Limit: Conditional supplier offer; establishes neither a completed replacement nor its feasibility or cost.

Retrieved bytes SHA-256: cd14cdf2547de78b704d4a8ec079952f429fbb38547a89778cb60d524b644359

The Department announces an agreement with Microsoft to deploy AI capabilities on its classified networks.

Source: Classified Networks AI Agreements · US Department of Defense (Department of War publication)
Version: consulted-2026-09-12; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: First body paragraph and paragraph beginning Integrating secure frontier AI capabilities
Limit: Institutional name as announced; executed instrument, exact legal signatory and completed deployment are not provided.

Byte capture unavailable. HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Published document identity and locator remain recorded.

Davies explains that replacement time and an exception process protect ongoing operational success.

Source: Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee transcript · US Senate Armed Services Committee
Version: dated-2026-03-24; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Printed p28, lines7–18
Limit: A rationale for managed transition, not a measured minimum switching duration or proof of an approved exception.

Byte capture unavailable. HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Published document identity and locator remain recorded.

Davies states the Department has designed its data architecture to accommodate multiple AI types.

Source: Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee transcript · US Senate Armed Services Committee
Version: dated-2026-03-24; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Printed p29, lines14–23; p27 lines16–22
Limit: Government assertion of interoperability; no demonstrated task parity or replacement-cost assessment supplied.

Byte capture unavailable. HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Published document identity and locator remain recorded.

The CIO authorizes temporary Anthropic licences and support tokens tied to approved transition plans to preserve migration continuity.

Source: Removal of Anthropic, PBC Products in DoW Systems, CIO000183-26 · US Department of Defense CIO (document hosted by CBS)
Version: dated-2026-03-06; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: PDF p2, paragraph beginning DoW Components will remove
Limit: Authorization is not proof of actual expenditure, licence issuance, or support delivery.

Retrieved bytes SHA-256: d00b6cc7d7285ac97538fdd00e0a7d9c20b7fc4a4ebcdebdff98cc666bbe473b

Michael describes CENTCOM, INDOPACOM and SOUTHCOM using one model in the Anthropic dispute and characterizes the arrangement as vendor lock.

Source: Emil Michael remarks at American Dynamism Summit · a16z event organizer / Emil Michael
Version: dated-2026-03-04; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: On the events of the past few weeks, paragraphs2–3
Limit: Official characterization; no workflow inventory. Hypothetical remote-shutdown concern is qualified by later court findings.

Retrieved bytes SHA-256: 056a01561a95614ad752d4b792b9978930cf9c190fb75b9271556f79d6766cd8

Michael states there had been one provider before newer agreements and that alternative providers differ by application.

Source: Senate Armed Services science and technology priorities hearing · US Senate Armed Services Committee
Version: dated-2026-05-19; retrieved 2026-09-12
Exact locator: Printed pp66–68, Kelly questions and Michael answers
Limit: No measured comparison of substitutes for an existing Claude workflow.

Byte capture unavailable. HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Published document identity and locator remain recorded.

Supporting and conflicting evidence

Interface support: microsoft-classified-agreement. Counterevidence: None recorded; this does not mean none exists.

Substantive review

evidence/court-use: approved · agent reviewer codex-research-checker · 2026-09-12

August27 district judgment page5 describes Claude use since2024 and Claude Gov sinceMarch2025 through partners; the record does not fabricate direct contracts. Checked locator: Printed page 5, factual background. Source version: 2026-08-27.