Anthropic sues Pentagon, Trump administration over “supply chain risk” designation
Washington — Anthropic sued the Department of Defense and other federal agencies on Monday over the Trump administration’s decision to designate it as a supply chain risk and eliminate its use in government, the final chapter in a bitter argument on the company’s powerful artificial intelligence model.
In a 48-page lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Anthropic said efforts by the Pentagon and President Trump to punish the company were “unprecedented and unlawful.”
“The Constitution does not permit the government to exercise its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech. No federal law authorizes the actions taken here. Anthropic looks to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and stop the executive branch’s unlawful campaign of retaliation,” the filing states.
The company filed a separate, narrower lawsuit asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the Pentagon’s determination that it poses a supply chain risk. Federal law gives this court jurisdiction to review the findings.
Anthropic filed a motion Wednesday seeking an emergency stay in this court of the supply chain risk designation.
The dispute stems from safeguards that Anthropic sought to impose on the military’s use of Claude, the only AI model authorized for use on classified networks. The company sought assurances from the Pentagon that Claude would not be used for mass surveillance of U.S. citizens or to power deadly autonomous weapons. The Pentagon insisted that Claude be available for “any lawful use.”
The two sides failed to resolve the conflict before the February 27 deadline. Mr. Trump announcement that he ordered all federal agencies “to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Anthropic would be designated a supply chain risk and cut off from defense contracts, resulting in the technology being phased out over a six-month period. The Pentagon has continued to use Claude during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, CBS News reported last week.
Hegseth officially issued supply chain risk designation last week. Anthropic’s lawsuit asks the court to block Hegseth’s order and declare it “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law.” The company also asked the court to find that the president did not have the authority to order the rest of the government to cut ties with Anthropic.
“Anthropic’s contracts with the federal government are already canceled. Current and future contracts with private parties are also in doubt, putting hundreds of millions of dollars at risk in the near term,” the company’s lawsuit says. “In addition to these immediate economic harms, Anthropic’s reputation and fundamental First Amendment freedoms are under attack. Absent legal relief, these harms will only deepen in the weeks and months to come.”
The lawsuit accused the administration of “seeking to destroy the economic value created by one of the world’s fastest-growing private companies, which is a leader in the responsible development of an emerging technology of vital importance to our nation.”
“The challenged actions inflict immediate and irreparable harm on Anthropic; on others whose speech will be chilled; on those who benefit from the economic value the company can continue to create; and on a global audience that deserves meaningful dialogue and debate about what AI means for warfare and surveillance,” the suit continues. “There is no valid justification for the challenged actions. The Court should declare them illegal and prohibit the defendants from taking any steps to implement them.”
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the president “will never allow a radical left-wing, woke corporation to jeopardize our national security by dictating the operation of the world’s largest and most powerful military.”
“Under the Trump administration, our military will obey the Constitution of the United States – not the terms of service of AI companies,” she said.
