Anthropic has filed two lawsuits against the US Department of Defense (DoD) after the Pentagon labelled the artificial intelligence firm a 'supply chain risk', a decision the company says is unlawful and violates its First Amendment rights. The lawsuits were lodged in the northern district court of California and the US court of appeals for the Washington DC Circuit on Monday.
The Pentagon formally issued the supply chain risk designation last Thursday, marking the first time the blacklisting tool has been used against a US company. The designation demands that any company doing business with the government cut all ties with Anthropic, posing a serious threat to its business model.
Anthropic contends that the Trump administration is punishing the company for its refusal to comply with ideological demands, specifically its attempts to implement safeguards against the military's potential use of its AI models for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous lethal weapons. The AI firm argues this constitutes a violation of its protected speech.
Anthropic's AI model, Claude, has been deeply integrated into the DoD over the past year and was until recently the only AI model approved for use in classified systems. The DoD has reportedly used it extensively in military operations, including targeting decisions in the war against Iran.
Despite the legal challenge, Anthropic emphasised its commitment to providing AI for national security purposes and stated it had previously collaborated with the DoD to modify its systems. A spokesperson said: 'Seeking judicial review does not change our longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security, but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers and our partners.' The DoD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
