Anthropic on Monday sued the Pentagon, alleging its designation as a "supply chain risk" violates the company's First Amendment rights and exceeds the government's authority.
Why it matters: Supply chain risk designations are usually reserved for foreign adversaries that pose a national security risk — a punishment that could be hard for the government to square as it relied on Claude for operations in Iran.
State of play: The Pentagon last week designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, meaning companies must stop using Claude in cases directly tied to the department.
- President Trump also told the federal government in a Truth Social post to stop using Anthropic's technology, and some agencies have begun offboarding the tools.
Anthropic is asking courts to undo the supply chain risk designation, block its enforcement and require federal agencies to withdraw directives to drop the company.
- The company says its two lawsuits are not meant to force the government to work with Anthropic, but prevent officials from blacklisting companies over policy disagreements.
What's inside: The first lawsuit — filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California — claims the designation punishes Anthropic for being outspoken about its views on AI policy, including its advocacy for safeguards against its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons.
- The Pentagon has a right to disagree and choose not to work with Anthropic, the company argues, but it can't stigmatize the company as a security risk over protected speech.
- The case challenges the statutory authority underpinning the Pentagon's designation, 10 U.S.C. 3252, arguing that Congress required the department to use the least restrictive means to protect the government and mitigate supply chain risk, not punish a supplier.
- "Anthropic turns to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and halt the Executive's unlawful campaign of retaliation," the lawsuit states.
Procurement laws passed by Congress do not give the Pentagon or President Trump the power to blacklist a company, Anthropic says.
- Companies including Microsoft and Google have said they'll be able to continue non-defense related work with Anthropic.
A second, shorter lawsuit was filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals because another statute the government invoked can only be challenged there and similar arguments are being made there, Anthropic says.
- The company is seeking relief in both jurisdictions.
The other side: The Pentagon argues the dispute is about operational control, not speech.
- Department officials say this has always been about the military's ability to use technology legally, without a vendor inserting itself into the chain of command and putting warfighters at risk.
The big picture: This doesn't preclude the two sides from reaching an agreement.
- Defense undersecretary Emil Michael last week told Pirate Wires he would be open-minded: "I have a responsibility to the Department of War, and if there was a way to ensure that we had the best technology, I have no ego about it."
What's next: Anthropic says it's committed to continuing to serve the Pentagon amid major combat operations.
- "Seeking judicial review does not change our longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security, but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers, and our partners," an Anthropic spokesperson said.
- "We will continue to pursue every path toward resolution, including dialogue with the government."
