SUPPLY-CHAIN RISK
In a second lawsuit filed on Monday, Anthropic said the government had also designated it a supply-chain risk under a broader law that could lead to Anthropic being blacklisted across the entire civilian government.
The scope of that designation is not yet clear because the government must conduct an interagency review to determine how broadly the restrictions should apply, according to a person familiar with Anthropic’s legal strategy.
A group of 37 researchers and engineers from OpenAI and Google filed an amicus brief in support of Anthropic on Monday. The group, which included Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, argued that the episode could discourage AI experts from openly debating AI’s risks and benefits.
“By silencing one lab, the government reduces the industry’s potential to innovate solutions,” said the employees, who spoke in their personal capacity and not on behalf of their employers.
Anthropic said in the second lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the designation was unlawful and violated its constitutional rights.
Reuters has reported that Anthropic’s investors were racing to contain the damage caused by the fallout with the Pentagon. A group including some of these investors as well as OpenAI expressed concern over the government’s move.
Trump’s and Hegseth’s actions came after months of talks with Anthropic over whether the company’s policies could constrain military action and shortly after Amodei met with Hegseth in hopes of reaching a deal. The Pentagon said on Feb 27 that it would declare Anthropic as a supply-chain risk. It officially informed Anthropic of that designation on Mar 3.
The Pentagon said US law, not a private company, would determine how to defend the country and insisted on having full flexibility in using AI for “any lawful use”, asserting that Anthropic’s restrictions could endanger American lives.
Anthropic said even the best AI models were not reliable enough for fully autonomous weapons and that using them for that purpose would be dangerous. The company also drew a red line on domestic surveillance of Americans, calling it a violation of fundamental rights.
After Hegseth’s announcement, Anthropic said in a statement that the designation would be legally unsound and set a dangerous precedent for companies that negotiate with the government. The company said it would not be swayed by “intimidation or punishment,” and on Thursday, Amodei reiterated that Anthropic would challenge the designation in court.
He also apologised for an internal memo published on Wednesday by tech news site The Information. In the memo, which was written last Friday, Amodei said Pentagon officials did not like the company in part because “we haven’t given dictator-style praise to Trump”.
The Department of War signed agreements worth up to US$200 million each with major AI labs in the past year, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.
Microsoft-backed OpenAI announced a deal to use its technology in the War Department network shortly after Hegseth moved to blacklist Anthropic. CEO Sam Altman said the Pentagon shared OpenAI’s principles of ensuring human oversight of weapon systems and opposing mass US surveillance.