Anthropic Plans to Sue Pentagon Following Government Ban

Anthropic is planning legal action after the Pentagon designated the company a security risk.

This statement from the artificial intelligence startup Friday (Feb. 27) came soon after the White House gave the company six months until it is cut off from government contracts.

“I am directing every federal agency in the United States government to immediately cease all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it and will not do business with them again!” the president said in a post on Truth Social.

Anthropic had clashed with the Department of War over its use of its Claude model for autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance. The Pentagon is now calling Anthropic a supply-chain risk.

In a post on X, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Anthropic had “delivered a masterclass in arrogance and betrayal” after a deadline to reach an agreement closed Friday. Effective immediately, no Pentagon contractors or suppliers “may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic,” Hegseth added.

(Nevertheless, Claude still played a role in the U.S. attack on Iran this weekend, according to a Wall Street Journal report.)

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Anthropic said it plans to challenge the government’s decision in court.

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“No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court,” the company wrote on its blog, adding that Hegseth had no authority to issue the supply chain risk designation.

“Legally, a supply chain risk designation … can only extend to the use of Claude as part of Department of War contracts — it cannot affect how contractors use Claude to serve other customers,”…

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