Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei fought a major battle with the Defense Department last month, saying his company’s AI models could not be used for mass surveillance of Americans or direct autonomous weapons systems.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump criticized Amodei for dictating what can and cannot be done with the company’s technology. He immediately announced that the company would be labeled a supply chain risk “effective immediately” in sanctions traditionally reserved for companies from rival countries.
This was an unprecedented step that sent Shock waves in Silicon ValleyA coalition of tech industry groups signed a public letter condemning the decision. Even Amodei’s top rival, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, argued The Trump administration has crossed the line by labeling Anthropic’s technology non grata. Anthropic risks losing US government contracts worth millions of dollars.
While Amodei has issued an apology for pushing back against Trump in a note to staff leaked in InformationAnthropic is now prepared to challenge the White House’s latest designation in court. As wired reportsAnthropic filed a federal lawsuit against the Pentagon on Monday, challenging the move it dubs a “supply chain risk.”
As Amodei wrote in his blog post, “We do not believe that this action is legally justified, and we see no option but to challenge it in court.”
In company lawsuitThe lawsuit, filed in a California court, argues that White House officials acted unconstitutionally and in retaliation.
“The Constitution does not allow the government to use its vast power to punish a company for its protected speech,” the lawsuit says. “Anthropic turns to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and stop the executive’s unlawful campaign of retaliation.”
But experts believe the road ahead may be very difficult for Anthropic.
“It is 100 percent the government’s prerogative to set the parameters of a contract,” said Brett Johnson, partner at Snell & Winter. wiredEffectively this means there may be little chance of an appeal.
Johnson argued that it is in Anthropic’s best interests to argue in court that it was selected among other US government AI contractors.
While the Pentagon has officially confirmed its decision to name Anthropic a supply chain risk, the company’s cloud chatbot is being widely used in the US war on Iran, meaning the Defense Department is now using the compromised technology by its own admission.
Government agencies outside the military have revealed that they will immediately comply with the President’s directive and stop using the cloud. A Microsoft spokesperson also told wired It will continue to offer the chatbot to all other agencies except the Defense Department.
The lawsuit could greatly complicate efforts to end the dispute.
“Anthropic has many more similarities than we have differences with the War Department,” Amodei wrote in his apology. “We are both committed to advancing U.S. national security and protecting the American people, and agree on the urgency of implementing AI across the government.”
But the trial itself takes a dramatically different tone. The Trump administration’s actions are “as unprecedented as they are unlawful,” the document reads, calling out Hegseth specifically for bypassing Congress.
“The challenged actions caused immediate and irreparable harm to Anthropic,” the lawsuit reads. “On those whose voices will be silenced; on those who are benefiting from the economic value the company can continue to create; and on a global public that deserves robust conversation and debate on what AI means to advance combat and surveillance.”
More on the fight: Dario Amodei issues powerful apology for daring to criticize Trump
