Anthropic pushes back as Trump bans its tech after military calls it supply‑chain risk

Anthropic’s legal team filed an emergency petition with the D.C. Circuit on Friday, seeking a stay on the Pentagon’s supply‑chain designation while it negotiates the two “exception” clauses demanded by the Department of Defense, the company said in a statement to Wired. The firm argues that its refusal to permit mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons “has not affected a single government mission to date,” and it warned that an abrupt cutoff could disrupt dozens of ongoing contracts with defense contractors that rely on Claude for data analysis and code review.

The White House has not responded to requests for comment, and the Department of Defense has not issued a formal notice beyond Secretary Pete Hegseth’s X post, which cited “national security” concerns. According to TechCrunch, the Pentagon’s move effectively bars any contractor, supplier or partner that does business with the military from any commercial dealings with Anthropic, a restriction that could cascade to cloud providers, consulting firms and software vendors that embed Claude in their products.

President Donald Trump amplified the ban on Thursday, ordering all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic technology within 30 days, the Pittsburgh Post‑Gazette reported. The Indian Express added that the order triggers a six‑month phase‑out for any remaining federal deployments, forcing agencies to migrate to alternatives such as OpenAI’s GPT‑4 or Microsoft’s Azure AI services.

Industry analysts note that the ban comes amid a broader “AI safety” push by the administration, which has labeled several AI firms “woke” or “risky” in recent weeks. CNET quoted a senior Pentagon official saying the decision reflects “concerns that Claude could be weaponized without adequate safeguards.” The official declined to name the specific safeguards under discussion.

Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, reiterated the company’s stance in a follow‑up blog post, emphasizing that the two exception requests are “narrow, lawful, and consistent with our ethical commitments.” He warned that a forced shutdown would not only impact Anthropic’s revenue—estimated at $1.2 billion last year according to internal filings—but also set a precedent for future government‑industry AI collaborations. The firm is now courting private sector partners to offset potential losses as the legal battle unfolds.