Anthropic files a lawsuit against the Department of Defense

Anthropic sued the US government over it Classification as supply chain riskthe latest move a week ago A battle between it and the Pentagon About acceptable use cases for its military AI technology. The lawsuit, filed in a California District Court, accuses the Trump administration of illegally penalizing the company for setting “red lines” on mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

“The federal government has retaliated against a leading AI developer for adhering to its protected view on a subject of significant public importance — the safety of AI and the limitations of its AI models — in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States.” The suit reads. “Defendants seek 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 lawsuit comes A roller coaster A couple of Weeks For Anthropic, the company faced the threat — and hence the official designation — of turning to supply chain risk. The designation is typically not made public, and often applies to foreign companies that could pose a cybersecurity threat or other physical risk to national security, rather than companies headquartered in the United States. Additionally, President Donald Trump has ordered all government agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology within six months. Anthropic’s blacklisting has raised eyebrows and caused significant bipartisan controversy over concerns that disagreement with the current presidential administration could significantly impact the company’s bottom line — and whether it is able to operate as a business at all.

Anthropic says the government’s actions penalize its First Amendment-protected expression and violate its Fifth Amendment rights. Moreover, it says that demanding all government agencies to overthrow it falls outside the authority of the executive branch.

Anthropic has said since the original announcement that it will challenge the supply chain risk classification in court. In recent days, some of the company’s largest clients, Like MicrosoftThey have made it clear that they are continuing to work with Anthropic but are setting up processes so that their work with Anthropic will not have any involvement in any of their work with the Pentagon.

However, the lawsuit notes that government agencies outside the Department of Defense have severed their ties with Anthropic. The General Services Administration terminated its contract with OneGov, “ending the availability of human 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 (reportedly) privately that they plan to stop using it as well.

The Pentagon declined to comment.