Anthropic has reportedly filed two federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, seeking to overturn a Pentagon decision that placed the artificial intelligence company on a national security blacklist – a move it called “unprecedented and unlawful.” The suits, filed Monday in a California federal court and a Washington DC appeals court, challenge different aspects of the government’s actions, including a separate order by President Donald Trump directing federal employees to stop using Anthropic’s AI chatbot, Claude.’Unprecedented and unlawful’In its filings, Anthropic argued that the designation violated its constitutional rights. “These actions are unprecedented and unlawful. The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech,” the company said.
Anthropic added that even the best AI models were not reliable enough for fully autonomous weapons and that deploying them in that capacity would be dangerous.
Claude’s business is at stakeThe designation poses a significant threat to Anthropic’s government business, and the outcome could shape how other AI companies negotiate restrictions on military use of their technology.Most of Anthropic’s projected $14 billion in revenue this year comes from businesses and government agencies using Claude for tasks like computer coding, with more than 500 customers paying at least $1 million annually.What happens next?Anthropic officials said the lawsuit does not rule out a negotiated settlement. The Pentagon said it would not comment on pending litigation, and noted last week that active talks between the two sides had ceased.It was the first time the federal government was known to have used the supply chain risk designation against a US company.What sparked the disputeThe Pentagon designated Anthropic as a ‘supply chain risk’ after the startup refused to remove guardrails against using its AI for autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made the designation after months of contentious negotiations with the company over those restrictions broke down.