Pentagon’s Anthropic ban faces judge; Claude AI maker seeks injunction

Anthropic heads to San Francisco federal court on Tuesday to ask a judge to temporarily pause the Pentagon’s blacklisting of its Claude artificial intelligence models and President Donald Trump’s directive banning federal government agencies from using that technology. 

If the preliminary injunction is awarded, the AI startup will be able to continue doing business with government contractors and federal agencies as its lawsuit against the Trump administration plays out in court.

Without the injunction, the company has said, it could lose billions of dollars in business.

The hearing on Anthropic’s request, which will be conducted by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET. The hearing can be viewed via Zoom.

Earlier in March, the Department of Defense designated Anthropic a so-called supply chain risk, meaning that use of the company’s technology purportedly threatens U.S. national security. It was the first time an American company had been hit with that designation.

The label, if allowed to continue, will require defense contractors, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir, to certify that they do not use Claude in their work with the military.

Palantir is continuing to use Claude in its work with the department as the legal battle plays out, CEO Alex Karp told CNBC on March 12. Anthropic’s model is also being used in the war with Iran.

Anthropic has argued that there is no basis to consider the company a supply chain risk. The company also said it is being unfairly retaliated against because it demanded that the DOD not use Claude for fully autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon insists it does not use the AI models for such purposes.

Lin could issue a ruling from the bench about Anthropic’s motion on Tuesday, or she could deliver a written ruling later.

On Monday, the judge gave lawyers for Anthropic and the government a list of questions she wants answered at the hearing.

One of those questions was: “What evidence in the record shows that Anthropic had ongoing access to or control over Claude after delivering it to the government, such that Anthropic could engage in acts of sabotage or subversion?”

In its motion seeking a preliminary injunction, Anthropic argued that such an order would prevent the company from incurring further economic and reputational harm.

“The government has infringed on Anthropic’s right to speak freely; it has disparaged the company’s good name by stigmatizing it with an unlawful designation as a national security risk; it has deprived Anthropic of government contracts and damaged its relationships with business partners in the private sector; and it has put millions, possibly billions, of dollars at risk,” the motion stated. “Absent immediate relief from this Court, those harms will continue to mount.”

The company also noted that an injunction would not require the U.S. government to use its models or prevent it from transitioning to another AI vendor. 

Before the conflict erupted in late February, Anthropic was one of the first AI companies to partner with many U.S. agencies as the government sought to rapidly upgrade its systems and capabilities with cutting-edge AI tech.

Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon in July and was the first AI lab to deploy its technology across the agency’s classified networks.

But as the company began negotiating Claude’s deployment on the DOD’s GenAI.mil AI platform in September, talks stalled over how the military could use the models.

The department has insisted on unfettered access to the company’s technology for all lawful purposes. 

After Anthropic and the DOD failed to reach an agreement, Trump in February issued a Truth Social post ordering federal agencies to “immediately cease” all use of Anthropic’s technology.

“WE will decide the fate of our Country — NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about,” Trump wrote.

WATCH: Anthropic sues Trump administration over Pentagon blacklisting