U.S. President Donald Trump, behind Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from Dover, Delaware, to Miami, Florida, U.S., March 7, 2026.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Anthropic continued THE Trump administration Monday, seeking to reverse a blacklist by the Pentagon who declared the artificial intelligence company a “supply chain risk”.
The company said in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that the actions are “unprecedented and unlawful” and “irreparably harm Anthropic.”
“Anthropic’s contracts with the federal government are already being canceled. Current and future contracts with private parties are also in doubt, putting hundreds of millions of dollars at risk in the near term,” the filing states. “In addition to these immediate economic harms, Anthropic’s reputation and fundamental First Amendment freedoms are under attack. Absent legal relief, these harms will only deepen in the weeks and months to come.”
The trial is the final episode of a two-week drama saga between Anthropic and the Trump administration over how the company’s AI models can be used on the battlefield and beyond. Before the feud between the two sides became public late last month, Anthropic was an early partner for many U.S. agencies as the government sought to quickly upgrade its systems and capabilities with cutting-edge AI technology.
Thursday, Anthropic confirmed that it had been officially designated a supply chain risk, an extraordinary move historically reserved for foreign adversaries. It will require defense suppliers and contractors to certify that they are not using models from Anthropic, known as Claude, in their work with the Pentagon.
President Donald Trump also shared a message on social media last month, ordering federal agencies to “immediately cease” all use of Anthropic’s technology.
“WE will decide the fate of our country – NOT an out-of-control radical left AI society run by people who have no idea what the real world is like,” Trump wrote.
Anthropic asked the court to rescind the supply chain risk designation and grant the company a stay of action as the legal matter unfolds.
The company has filed separately for formal review of the Department of Defense’s decision before the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
Anthropic said the government’s decision could put “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue at risk in the short term. Chief financial officer Krishna Rao said in a related deposit Monday, the shock could be much more serious.
“Across Anthropic’s business, and taking into account the likelihood of a given customer taking a maximum reading, the government’s actions could reduce Anthropic’s 2026 revenues by several billion dollars,” Rao said.
Read more CNBC tech newsAnthropic signed a 200 million dollars contract with the Department of Defense in July, and it was the first AI lab to deploy its technology on the agency’s classified networks. The company was renegotiating the terms of its contract and is negotiating I encountered a problem because the two organizations disagreed on how its models could be used.
DOD wanted Anthropic to grant the agency unrestricted access to its AI models for any lawful purposes, while Anthropic wanted assurance that its models would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance.
Anthropic’s models were still used to support the US military operation in Iran, even after the company was blacklisted, as CNBC reports. previously reported.
“Requesting judicial review does not change our long-standing commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security, but it is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers and our partners,” an Anthropic spokesperson told CNBC on Monday. “We will continue to pursue all possible avenues to reach a resolution, including dialogue with the government.”
A DOD spokesperson said the agency does not comment on litigation.
More than a dozen federal agencies, including DOD, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of State and the General Services Administration, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“The consequences of this matter are enormous,” the complaint states. “Defendants seek to destroy the economic value created by one of the world’s fastest-growing private companies, which is a leader in the responsible development of an emerging technology of vital importance to our nation.”
WATCH: Why the US Department of Defense’s Anthropic blacklist is so unprecedented
