Pentagon ban of Anthropic faces judge; Claude AI maker seeks injunction

Anthropic has taken its fight to a federal court in San Francisco, seeking an urgent injunction to halt the Pentagon's recent blacklisting of its Claude artificial intelligence models. The company aims to counter President Donald Trump's directive that prohibits federal agencies from utilizing its technology. If granted, this preliminary injunction would allow Anthropic to maintain its business relationships with government contractors and federal entities while its legal challenge against the Trump administration unfolds. The stakes are high for Anthropic, which has warned that without the injunction, it could face potential losses amounting to billions of dollars. The hearing, overseen by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be accessible via Zoom. Earlier this year, the Department of Defense labeled Anthropic a "supply chain risk," asserting that the use of its technology poses a threat to national security—a designation that has never before been applied to an American company. This classification would compel defense contractors, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir, to confirm that they do not employ Claude in military-related projects. Despite the ongoing legal issues, Palantir continues to utilize Claude in its operations with the Pentagon, as confirmed by CEO Alex Karp. Anthropic contends that it has been unjustly targeted and that there is insufficient evidence to justify its designation as a supply chain risk. The company has also claimed that its demands to the DOD regarding the use of Claude for fully autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of citizens prompted this retaliatory action, despite the Pentagon's assurances that its AI models are not used in such capacities. Judge Lin may deliver a decision on Anthropic's request immediately following the hearing or provide a written ruling at a later date. Ahead of the session, she issued a list of inquiries to both parties, including the key question of whether Anthropic retained any control over Claude after its delivery to the government, implying potential risks of sabotage or subversion. In its motion, Anthropic articulated that the government's actions have severely harmed its economic standing and reputation, stating, "The government has infringed on Anthropic's right to speak freely; it has damaged the company's reputation by wrongfully designating it as a national security risk; and it has jeopardized millions, if not billions, in potential revenue. Without immediate relief from this Court, these damages will only escalate." The company emphasized that an injunction would not obligate the U.S. government to utilize its AI models or hinder a transition to alternative vendors. Prior to the escalation of this conflict in late February, Anthropic had been a key partner for several U.S. agencies, having signed a significant $200 million contract with the Pentagon and being the first AI lab to implement its technology across classified networks. However, negotiations regarding Claude's deployment within the DOD's GenAI.mil platform stalled due to disagreements over military access to the technology. Following the breakdown of these discussions, Trump issued a directive via Truth Social in February, mandating federal agencies to "immediately cease" all usage of Anthropic’s technology. As this legal battle unfolds, the implications for both Anthropic and the broader landscape of AI development in government contracts remain to be seen.