Anthropic plans to challenge the U.S. government in court after the Pentagon designated the AI startup a national security “supply chain risk,” according to CEO Dario Amodei.
Pentagon Designates Anthropic A National Security Risk
In a statement on Thursday, Amodei said the company received an official notice from the Department of War confirming the designation.
“Yesterday (March 4) Anthropic received a letter from the Department of War confirming that we have been designated as a supply chain risk to America’s national security,” he wrote.
The label is significant because it typically requires defense contractors and vendors to certify they are not using the company’s technology in work connected to the Pentagon.
Historically, similar designations have largely targeted foreign companies, including Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies.
Anthropic said it intends to contest the decision in court. “As we wrote on Friday, we do not believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court,” Amodei stated.
In the statement, Amodei also said the company did not leak a reported internal memo criticizing the government, adding, “It is not in our interest to escalate this situation.”
Pentagon did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.
Dispute Centers On Military Use Of AI
The conflict stems from disagreements between Anthropic and the Pentagon over how the company’s AI models — known as Claude — could be used by the military.
Anthropic reportedly sought guarantees that its systems would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance.
The Defense Department, however, wanted broad access to the technology for lawful military purposes.
Rising Tensions And Industry Fallout
The dispute comes despite a $200 million Defense Department contract awarded to Anthropic last year, which made it one of the first AI labs to deploy models on classified government networks.
Meanwhile, competitors such as OpenAI — led by CEO Sam Altman — and xAI, founded by Elon Musk, have moved to deepen their own partnerships with the Pentagon.
Microsoft Reviews Pentagon Label On Anthropic
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) told CNBC that its legal team reviewed the designation and concluded that the startup’s products can still be offered to customers outside the Department of Defense.
Last month, Anthropic announced a $30 billion funding round that lifted its valuation to $380 billion. The funding round included previously disclosed investments from tech giants Microsoft and Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).
On the other hand, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) said it will phase out Anthropic’s Claude AI tools from its operations after Trump ordered a government-wide ban on the company.
Earlier this week, it was also reported that Palantir Technologies’ (NASDAQ:PLTR) flagship military AI platform is facing uncertainty after the Pentagon directed contractors to end commercial relationships with Anthropic.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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