Dispute Over Military Use of AI Heads to Court as Anthropic PBC Sues Trump Administration

New York (Financial News) – Lee Byung-chulAnthropic PBC, an artificial intelligence (AI) company, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The company argues that it is unconstitutional for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to designate it as a "supply chain risk" entity because it sought to limit the military uses of its AI technology.
On the 9th (local time), Anthropic PBC filed separate lawsuits with a United States federal court in California and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The two cases challenge different legal authorities that the DoD relied on when taking its actions.
The DoD last week formally designated Anthropic PBC, a San Francisco-based AI company, as a supply chain risk entity. The move came after a dispute with the department over the scope of military uses for the company’s AI chatbot, Claude, spilled into public view.
Donald Trump also announced that he would order federal agencies to stop using Claude. However, he granted the DoD a six-month phased wind-down period, because Claude is deeply integrated into classified military systems, including war-related systems involving the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Once the DoD designates Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk entity, the company is effectively excluded from defense-related projects. The designation system was originally created to prevent foreign adversaries from compromising U.S. national security systems. This is reportedly the first time the U.S. government has applied it to an American company.
In its complaint, Anthropic PBC argued that "this action is unprecedented and unlawful" and stated, "The government cannot punish a company for protected speech." It went on to say, "No provision of federal law authorizes such measures," adding, "We appeal to the judiciary to halt the administration’s unlawful retaliatory actions."
The DoD has not issued a separate statement in response.
Anthropic PBC’s expected revenue for this year is about $14 billion. Most of that comes from contracts under which companies and government agencies use Claude for coding and data work.
According to investment materials, more than 500 customers currently pay at least $1 million a year to use Claude. The same materials valued the company at about $380 billion.




pride@fnnews.com Lee Byung-chul Reporter