Can Anthropic Sustain Its Momentum?

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Getty Images Good morning! Here's the latest in trending:Safety first: Nvidia (NVDA) and Amazon (AMZN) temporarily shut their Dubai offices, while flight disruptions leave Google (GOOGL) staff stranded in the city.Stockpiles shrink: The White House will meet defense contractors on Friday to discuss speeding up arms production as Iran war threatens stockpiles.Wider reach: U.S. naval officials warned that China's submarine buildup could allow it to threaten more of the U.S. mainland while operating closer to its own shores. Claude strength Anthropic (ANTHRO) is on track to generate nearly $20B in annual revenue, more than doubling its run rate from $9B at the end of 2025. This was driven by strong adoption of its AI models and products such as Claude Code, signaling rapid growth before its recent clash with the Pentagon.Rapid growth: The AI company recently topped $19B in run-rate revenue, up from $9B at the end of 2025 and roughly $14B a few weeks ago, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources. However, its momentum faces uncertainty after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk following a dispute over its AI safeguards. Anthropic called the move "legally unsound" and said it's prepared to "challenge any supply chain risk designation in court." While the designation could block government sales and affect business with other firms, the long-term impact remains unclear and in the meantime, Anthropic continues to gain traction with everyday users.Pentagon clash: The dispute began when Anthropic refused the Pentagon's demand to ease restrictions on its AI technology that prevent it from being used for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. As a result, President Donald Trump announced a federal agency-wide ban on Anthropic, canceling more than $200M in contracts. The Treasury and Health and Human Services Departments, as well as the ‌Federal ⁠Housing Finance Agency, are terminating the use of Anthropic's AI products.

The State Department said it would switch to OpenAI's (OPENAI) GPT4.1 to power its in-house chatbot StateChat.Bigger impact: Defense contractors are expected to comply with the Pentagon's directive to remove Anthropic's AI tools from their systems. "We will follow the president's and the Department of ​War's direction," Lockheed Martin (LMT) told Reuters, adding that it expected minimal impact on its work. When asked if they would comply with Trump's order on Anthropic, General Dynamics (GD), RTX (RTX) — the parent of Raytheon — and L3Harris (LHX) declined to comment. "Legally, a supply chain risk designation can only extend to the use of Claude as part of Department of War contracts — it cannot affect how contractors use Claude to serve other customers," Anthropic previously said. Here's the latest Seeking Alpha analysis Claude AI Hysteria: Top Cybersecurity Stocks Iran Escalation: Oil Shock, Gold Surge, Equity RiskPalantir: U.S.-Iran Conflict Validates Its Unstoppable AI Military MoatThe Most Important Market Shifts Investors Must Understand Right NowS&P 500: Is Iran The Trigger For A Break? (Technical Analysis) What else is happening... OpenAI (OPENAI) considers contract to deploy its AI tech for NATO.Superintelligence push: Meta to create applied AI engineering organization.Trump meets Coinbase (COIN) CEO, slams banks over stalled crypto bill.Hims & Hers (HIMS) falls as FDA doubles down on compounded GLP-1s.Target (TGT) bets on higher capex, AI and new stores to reverse decline.Brent crude jumps on Iraq output cut; coal rises on Qatar LNG shutdown.Oil shock math: Goldman models Iran conflict's hit to U.S. CPI and GDP.Trump threatens full trade embargo on Spain over military base access.FBI data: Firearm demand continues its five-year downtrend in U.S.Judge blocks Trump's effort to end NYC's congestion pricing program. Today's Markets In Asia, Japan -3.6%. Hong Kong -2%. China -1%. India -1.4%.In Europe, at midday, London +0.7%. Paris +1.2%. Frankfurt +1.8%.Futures at 6:30, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.6%. Crude +0.1% to $74.61. Gold +1.6% to $5,203.90. Bitcoin +6.6% to $71,281.Ten-year Treasury Yield unchanged at 4.08%.

On The Calendar Companies reporting today include Broadcom (AVGO) and Okta (OKTA).See the full earnings calendar on Seeking Alpha, as well as today's economic calendar. This article was written byWall Street Breakfast5.74M FollowersSubscribeWall Street Breakfast, Seeking Alpha's flagship daily business newsletter, is a one-page summary that gives you a rapid overview of the day's key financial news. It is designed for easy readability on the site or by email (including mobile devices) and is published before 7:30 AM ET every market day.

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