Anthropic and Pentagon head to court as AI firm seeks end to ‘stigmatizing’ supply chain risk label

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is asking a federal judge on Tuesday to temporarily halt the Pentagon’s “unprecedented and stigmatizing” designation of the company as a supply chain risk.

A hearing scheduled for Tuesday in a California federal court marks a critical step in the feud between Anthropic and the Trump administration over how the company’s AI technology could be used in war.

Anthropic sued earlier this month to stop the Trump administration from enforcing what the company calls an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology.

The company is asking U.S. District Judge Rita Lin for an emergency order that would temporarily reverse the Pentagon’s decision to designate the AI company a “supply chain risk.” Anthropic also seeks to undo President Donald Trump’s order directing all federal employees, not just those in the military, to stop using its AI chatbot Claude.

Lin is presiding over the case in federal court in San Francisco, where Anthropic is headquartered. The AI firm has also filed a separate and more narrow case in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

Lin sent both sides a number of questions she wants them to answer at a Tuesday hearing, including about discrepancies between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s formal directive declaring Anthropic a potential threat to national security, and what he posted about it on social media.