A U.S. judge said Tuesday the Pentagon’s blacklisting of AI company Anthropic appears to be an attempt to punish the firm for raising concerns about AI safety in military use.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, presiding in San Francisco, stated during a hearing that the designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk 'looks like an attempt to cripple Anthropic.' She added it resembles retaliation for the company’s public scrutiny of a defense contract dispute.
The unprecedented move followed Anthropic’s refusal to permit the U.S. military to use its Claude AI model for surveillance or autonomous weapons. The company argues AI systems are not reliable enough for such high-risk applications and opposes domestic surveillance as a rights violation.
Anthropic claims the designation could cost it billions in lost contracts and damage its reputation. It filed a lawsuit alleging violations of its First Amendment free speech rights and Fifth Amendment due process, saying it was not given a chance to challenge the decision.
The Justice Department argues the action resulted from contractual disagreements, not ideological retaliation, claiming Anthropic’s restrictions create operational risks for military systems.
Anthropic faces a second related lawsuit in Washington, D.C., over potential exclusion from civilian government contracts.