The tech firm was blacklisted for opposing the US War Department’s request to remove restrictions on surveillance and autonomous weapons
Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic has lodged a lawsuit against the Pentagon and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, contesting the Trump administration’s determination to label the company a national security risk and ban its technology across the federal government.
The complaint, filed on Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, contends that the administration exceeded its legal power and took revenge on the company for declining to eliminate safeguards regarding how its artificial intelligence systems can be utilized by the military.
Anthropic is requesting the court to declare the government’s actions illegal and halt the measures, stating that they pose a threat of causing “irreparable” harm to one of the world’s “fastest-growing” and most “responsible” AI companies.
The company had previously been the sole AI developer authorized to deploy large language models on classified Pentagon networks, where its Claude system supported intelligence analysis and operational planning under contracts worth up to $200 million.
Claude also allegedly played a crucial role in planning and carrying out the raid targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – as well as the US-Israeli strikes on Iran launched just hours after Trump blacklisted the company.
Under the administration’s order, federal agencies were directed to phase out the technology within six months while switching to alternative AI providers. Anthropic said the continued reliance on its systems during that period weakens the government’s assertion that the company represents an immediate security threat.