Artificial intelligence company Anthropic filed lawsuits Monday against the United States Department of Defense and several other federal agencies after the government moved to block the company’s technology from being used for defense-related work. The lawsuit names several departments and officials as defendants, including the Treasury, State and Commerce Departments along with figures such as Scott Bessent, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kristi Noem.
The legal fight follows a decision by the Pentagon to classify the firm as a national security supply-chain risk. Shortly afterward, Pres. Trump announced that federal agencies should stop using the company’s AI systems altogether. Anthropic responded by launching two separate court actions—one in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and another with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The company argues the government’s actions are not a routine contract disagreement but an attempt to punish the firm for its stance on how its technology should be used.
The filing said in part that “the Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech. No federal statute authorizes the actions taken here. Anthropic turns to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and halt the Executive’s unlawful campaign of retaliation.”
At the center of the dispute is Anthropic’s flagship AI system, Claude, which has been deployed on classified government networks to assist with intelligence analysis, targeting suggestions and battlefield simulations. The technology has also supported data analysis and administrative tasks across several agencies, often through partnerships with firms such as Palantir Technologies. Tensions grew as Anthropic pushed for stronger limits on how the military could deploy its AI. The company sought guarantees that Claude would not be used to power lethal autonomous weapons or conduct mass surveillance on Americans. Defense officials, however, insisted the system should be available for “all lawful use.”
Negotiations between the two sides ultimately stalled ahead of a Feb. 27 deadline set by the Pentagon. After talks broke down, Trump ordered federal agencies “to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology.” Soon after, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would formally classify the company as a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” cutting it off from defense contracts.
Anthropic argues the move is unprecedented for a U.S. company and claims the designation—typically reserved for foreign adversaries—was applied without proper procedure: “Anthropic’s contracts with the federal government are already being canceled. Current and future contracts with private parties are also in doubt, jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars in the near-term,” the company’s lawsuit said.
The legal complaint further claims the government’s actions threaten the company’s reputation and free-speech protections while damaging broader discussions about the responsible use of artificial intelligence in warfare and surveillance. Anthropic is asking the courts to block the Pentagon’s order and rule that the president lacked the authority to force agencies across the federal government to sever ties with the company.
Anthropic says it remains open to discussions with federal officials, but believed that court intervention was necessary to stop the bans from taking effect until the dispute is resolved.
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