Breaking Down Amicus Briefs in Anthropic’s Fight with the Pentagon

https://www.techpolicy.press/breaking-down-amicus-briefs-in-anthropics-fight-with-the-pentagon/

Publish Date: 2026-03-23 13:59:00

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2023. (TechCrunch)

The legal standoff between Anthropic and the Department of Defense is reaching a critical point, with a preliminary hearing set for Tuesday to consider whether to grant the company’s motion for a preliminary injunction against a Pentagon designation blocking use of its services.

The Pentagon earlier this month labeled the artificial intelligence company a “supply-chain risk,” an unprecedented designation against a United States company that bars department employees and contractors from using its products, like the popular AI assistant Claude.

Anthropic has sued to block the designation, calling it a retaliatory move that violated the company’s First Amendment and due process rights.

Ahead of the pivotal hearing, dozens of tech employees, former military officials, free speech advocates and legal scholars weighed in on the case by filing amicus briefs on Anthropic’s motion, overwhelmingly siding with the company in pushing back against the Pentagon.

Here is a break down of how they viewed the Trump administration’s move:

Former service members

A group of nearly two dozen high-ranking former US Military, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force personnel filed a brief arguing against the Pentagon and calling for relief from the court.

The group, which included several former secretaries of the Navy and Air Force, argued that a “military grounded in the rule of law is weakened, not strengthened, by government actions that lack legal foundation,” and that designating an American company a security risk was an “extraordinary and unprecedented” step that required “firm grounding.”
The group said at stake in the case was the “misuse of powerful national security authorities by civilian political leadership” as “retribution against a private company that has displeased the leadership,” and said they were “gravely concerned” that the Pentagon had exceeded its authority by issuing a…

Source