Overview
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a letter saying the designation "appears to be retaliation" for Anthropic refusing to relax guardrails on mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, and she requested documentation of the decision.
- A preliminary hearing on Anthropic’s lawsuit challenging the blacklist is scheduled for Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
- The Pentagon disputes any retaliatory motive, arguing in court filings that it needs AI available for all lawful uses and that Anthropic’s prior access posed unacceptable supply‑chain risk.
- The supply‑chain risk label effectively blocks new Pentagon work with Anthropic and requires government contractors to certify they are not using the company’s systems, and President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to cease using them.
- Days after the blacklist, the Defense Department moved toward OpenAI as a replacement, while Warren also asked CEO Sam Altman to disclose the contract terms, which have not been made public.