Anthropic has sued the US government over its designation as a supply-chain risk, the latest step in a weeks-long battle between it and the Pentagon over acceptable use cases for its military AI technology. The lawsuit, filed in a California district court, accuses the Trump administration of illegally punishing the company for setting “red lines” on mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
“The federal government retaliated against a leading frontier AI developer for pursuing its protected viewpoint on a subject of great public importance – AI safety and the limitations of its own AI models – in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States,” the lawsuit says. “The defendants are seeking to destroy the economic value created by one of the world’s fastest-growing private companies, which is leading the way in responsibly developing an emerging technology of critical importance to our nation.”
The lawsuit follows a tumultuous few weeks for Anthropic, in which the company faced the threat — and then the official designation — of being put at supply chain risk. The designation is usually not made public and often applies to foreign companies rather than companies headquartered in the US that may pose a cybersecurity threat or other physical risk to national security. Additionally, President Donald Trump ordered all government agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology within six months. Anthropic’s blacklisting raised eyebrows and caused significant bipartisan controversy over fears that disagreeing with the current presidential administration could significantly impact the company’s bottom line – and whether it is able to fully function as a business.
Anthropic argues that the government’s actions punish him for speech protected under the First Amendment and violate his Fifth Amendment rights. Furthermore, it states that demanding that all government agencies abandon it is beyond the authority of the executive branch.
Anthropic has said since the original announcement that it would challenge the supply chain risk designation in court. In recent days, some of the company’s largest customers, such as Microsoft, have made clear that they are continuing to work with Anthropic, but are setting up processes so that their work with Anthropic has no involvement in any of their work with the Pentagon.
However, the lawsuit notes that government agencies outside the Defense Department have severed ties with Anthropic. The General Services Administration terminated its OneGov contract, “ending the availability of anthropometric services to all three branches of the federal government.” And several other agencies – including the Treasury Department and the State Department – have said publicly or (allegedly) privately that they plan to stop using it.
The Pentagon declined to comment.
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