Anthropic sues the Trump administration as its AI feud with the Pentagon goes to court
The Pentagon labeled the AI company behind Claude a "supply chain risk" after Anthropic said it wouldn't let Claude be used for autonomous weapons
Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic, at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images
Anthropic sued the Trump administration on Monday as part of its ongoing feud with the Pentagon for using its artificial intelligence for military missions.
The company behind Claude AI filed two lawsuits, one in a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., and another in California federal court, to challenge the Pentagon's decision to classify it as a "supply chain risk," the Associated Press reported.
Anthropic had said it refused to let its technology be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance and wouldn't budge when officials demanded blanket permission to use it in any lawful scenario. The U.S. struck Iran while using Anthropic's tools for targeting and intelligence systems in Central Command, the military's Middle East headquarters.
President Donald Trump called Anthropic a “radical-left, woke company” that would never dictate how the military fights. His administration classified it as a supply-chain, a designation that in the past has generally been reserved for Chinese firms suspected of espionage. The decision means the government could force any company doing business with the Defense Department to prove it doesn't use Anthropic's tools.
Anthropic has rejected the classification. "These actions are unprecedented and unlawful," Anthropic said in the suit. "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."
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a letter last week that he does "not believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court."
The suit names multiple agencies, including the State and Treasury Departments.
“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," Anthropic told Quartz by email on Monday. "We will continue to pursue every path toward resolution, including dialogue with the government.”
—Jackie Snow contributed to this article.