Overview
- Anthropic filed twin lawsuits on March 9 in federal court in California and in the D.C. Circuit seeking to vacate the designation and block its enforcement.
- The Pentagon labeled the company a supply‑chain risk for the first time against a U.S. vendor, triggering contract cutoffs, contractor non‑use certifications, and a six‑month phase‑out across defense workflows.
- The breakdown followed Anthropic’s refusal to remove guardrails that bar use of Claude for fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance after the Defense Department pushed for “any lawful use.”
- Legal experts say the cited statute is aimed at adversary sabotage and has never been tested against a U.S. company, noting contradictions including continued military use of Claude during Iran operations and the defense secretary’s prior praise of the tool.
- Anthropic argues the actions violate its First Amendment and due process rights and warns of a multibillion‑dollar revenue hit in 2026, while rivals including OpenAI and xAI have moved to secure Pentagon work.