Artificial intelligence developer Claude has filed two lawsuits against the U.S. Department of War and other federal agencies over the government's decision to designate the company a "supply chain threat" after Anthropic refused to give the military unlimited access to its AI systems.
Artificial intelligence developer Claude has filed two lawsuits against the U.S. Department of War and other federal agencies over the government's decision to designate the company a "supply chain threat" after Anthropic refused to give the military unlimited access to its AI systems.
Anthropic claims that the government is punishing the company for its public stance on the limitations and safety of AI, which is a violation of constitutional rights.
According to Anthropic, the Pentagon used the “threat” status without following congressional procedures. The law requires conducting a risk assessment, notifying the company, giving it an opportunity to respond, and notifying Congress before excluding a supplier from federal procurement.
The company also accuses the president of exceeding his authority in banning the use of Anthropic technology by government agencies.
"These actions are unprecedented and illegal. The Constitution does not allow the government to use its vast power to punish a company for its protected free speech," Anthropic said in a statement.
The dispute between the developer and the Ministry of Defense lasted for several weeks . Anthropic refused to cross two fundamental “red lines”: the company banned the use of its technology for mass surveillance of Americans, and also stated that its AI was not yet ready to control fully autonomous weapons (without human participation in making decisions about opening fire).
Instead, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the Pentagon should have access to AI systems for “any legitimate purpose” and cannot be limited by private contractor rules.
The “supply chain threat” designation is typically applied to foreign adversaries. This label requires all companies and agencies working with the Pentagon to ensure they do not use Anthropic models.
In addition, according to Axios, President Donald Trump has ordered all federal agencies to immediately stop using the company’s technology. As a result, the General Services Administration (GSA) has already terminated the OneGov contract, closing Anthropic’s services to all three branches of the federal government.
Previously, the Trump administration and Hegset criticized the company and its CEO Dario Amodei and called the developers "radical leftists."
