Anthropic sues Trump admin for blacklisting after clash on using AI for surveillance, weaponry

Anthropic on Monday sued the Trump administration for effectively blacklisting the AI firm after it sought to block the Pentagon from using its chatbot for mass surveillance and weaponry.The San Francisco-based tech firm accused War Secretary Pete Hegseth of designating Anthropic a supply-chain risk – making it the first US company to bear that label – as retaliation for trying to limit the Pentagon’s use of its Claude chatbot.“The actions are unprecedented and unlawful,” the company said in a complaint filed Monday in San Francisco federal court.“The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech.”The Pentagon declined to comment, saying it does not address ongoing litigation.Anthropic’s lawsuit came days after its CEO Dario Amodei apologized for a leaked 1,600-word missive bashing the Trump administration – though he added that the company had “no choice” but to challenge the supply-chain risk label in court.The exec apologized for “the tone” of his fiery letter to staffers, which accused the Department of War for targeting Anthropic for not giving “dictator-style praise to Trump.”“I also want to apologize directly for a post internal to the company that was leaked to the press yesterday,” Amodei wrote in a note last Thursday.“Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so — it is not in our interest to escalate this situation.”Amodei said his inflammatory comments came hours after Trump blasted Anthropic staff as “Leftwing nut jobs” and Hegseth announced his plans to label the company a supply-chain risk.“It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologize for the tone of the post,” Amodei wrote.

“It does not reflect my careful or considered views.”The Pentagon’s supply-chain risk label — previously used only for foreign firms that present national security threats, like Chinese tech firm Huawei Technologies — is a ...