- AI company Anthropic has sued multiple U.S. government agencies, alleging an unlawful retaliation campaign after refusing the Pentagon’s demand for unrestricted use of its Claude Ai technology.
- The Department of Defense has labeled Anthropic as a “supply chain risk,” preventing military contractors from dealing with the company, marking the first time this designation has been applied to an American firm.
- The legal filing contends the government’s actions are unprecedented and unconstitutional, designed to punish the company for its protected speech and refusal to allow AI use in lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance programs.
- A group of over 30 AI scientists from companies like OpenAI and Google filed a legal brief supporting Anthropic, warning the case could harm U.S. competitiveness in Artificial Intelligence.
Anthropic, the creator of the AI software Claude, initiated dual lawsuits against the Trump administration on Monday in California and Washington, D.C. courts. The company alleges an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” after it refused to allow the military unrestricted use of its technology.
The lawsuits specifically target Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the decision to label Anthropic as a supply chain risk, finalized on March 3. Consequently, any person or business working with the military cannot also work with Anthropic, a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries.
However, Anthropic stated the conflict arose after Hegseth demanded the company discard its usage restrictions entirely. The company maintained clauses prohibiting use in lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance of Americans, which were always part of its government contracts.
“Anthropic has never tested Claude for those uses,” the company argued in its suit. “Anthropic currently does not have confidence, for example, that Claude would function reliably or safely if used to support lethal autonomous warfare.”
Meanwhile, the lawsuit also names the Treasury, State Department, and 17 other agencies and officials, including Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary Marco Rubio. A group of over 30 AI engineers and scientists filed a legal brief in support of Anthropic on Monday.
They warned that punishing a leading U.S. AI company would have severe consequences for national competitiveness. Anthropic contends the government’s actions are unprecedented and unconstitutional, wielded to punish a company for its protected speech.
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