Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
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Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
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Politics
/ March 11, 2026
Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
But make no mistake: The company is not one of the good guys.
Elie Mystal
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger and Head of Communications Sasha de Marigny give a press conference on May 22, 2025.
(Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images)
Anthropic, makers of the “Claude” AI model, has sued the Department of Defense in two separate lawsuits, including one alleging that the government is violating its First Amendment rights. The conflict arose last week when the Trump administration labeled the company a “supply chain risk” and banned government agencies, or any entity working with the US military, from using the Claude system. The Trump administration now calls Claude a national security risk. (The second lawsuit takes issue with this designation, which, until now, has never been used against a US company.)
The blacklisting followed months of fighting between Anthropic and the government. Anthropic wants to keep “safeguards” on Claude that prevent the system from being used to power autonomous weapons—basically, killing machines that can conduct military operations without human involvement—and to engage in widespread surveillance of Americans. The Trump administration wants the company to loosen those safeguards. Evidently, Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth wants the killer robots now, and he doesn’t like Anthropic getting in his way.
The government repeatedly threatened Anthropic with consequences if it didn’t remove its safety restrictions. It would appear the supply chain risk designation and associated blacklisting are those consequences.
All of this should make the Anthropic lawsuit a slam dunk, at least the First Amendment part, assuming there are still judges and justices willing to hold the Trump administration accountable to the Constitution, even in the realm of national security. Anthropic’s complaint makes a pretty clear cut case for a First Amendment violation (I’m less knowledgeable about the other claim, though my assumption, based on prior history, is that the Trump administration is indeed in violation of every law it’s accused of violating).
The simple facts are these: The government wanted Anthropic to make its AI do something. Anthropic didn’t want to make its AI do it, because of its beliefs, and those beliefs are protected under the First Amendment. The government punished Anthropic with an adverse national security designation, because the company wouldn’t do what the government wanted. That is a free speech violation.
It …
Rights don't disappear loudly—they fade.
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Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
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Current Issue
Politics
/ March 11, 2026
Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
But make no mistake: The company is not one of the good guys.
Elie Mystal
Share
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Edit
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger and Head of Communications Sasha de Marigny give a press conference on May 22, 2025.
(Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images)
Anthropic, makers of the “Claude” AI model, has sued the Department of Defense in two separate lawsuits, including one alleging that the government is violating its First Amendment rights. The conflict arose last week when the Trump administration labeled the company a “supply chain risk” and banned government agencies, or any entity working with the US military, from using the Claude system. The Trump administration now calls Claude a national security risk. (The second lawsuit takes issue with this designation, which, until now, has never been used against a US company.)
The blacklisting followed months of fighting between Anthropic and the government. Anthropic wants to keep “safeguards” on Claude that prevent the system from being used to power autonomous weapons—basically, killing machines that can conduct military operations without human involvement—and to engage in widespread surveillance of Americans. The Trump administration wants the company to loosen those safeguards. Evidently, Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth wants the killer robots now, and he doesn’t like Anthropic getting in his way.
The government repeatedly threatened Anthropic with consequences if it didn’t remove its safety restrictions. It would appear the supply chain risk designation and associated blacklisting are those consequences.
All of this should make the Anthropic lawsuit a slam dunk, at least the First Amendment part, assuming there are still judges and justices willing to hold the Trump administration accountable to the Constitution, even in the realm of national security. Anthropic’s complaint makes a pretty clear cut case for a First Amendment violation (I’m less knowledgeable about the other claim, though my assumption, based on prior history, is that the Trump administration is indeed in violation of every law it’s accused of violating).
The simple facts are these: The government wanted Anthropic to make its AI do something. Anthropic didn’t want to make its AI do it, because of its beliefs, and those beliefs are protected under the First Amendment. The government punished Anthropic with an adverse national security designation, because the company wouldn’t do what the government wanted. That is a free speech violation.
It …
Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
Rights don't disappear loudly—they fade.
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Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
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Current Issue
Politics
/ March 11, 2026
Anthropic’s Lawsuit Should Absolutely Destroy the Pentagon in Court
But make no mistake: The company is not one of the good guys.
Elie Mystal
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Edit
Ad Policy
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger and Head of Communications Sasha de Marigny give a press conference on May 22, 2025.
(Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images)
Anthropic, makers of the “Claude” AI model, has sued the Department of Defense in two separate lawsuits, including one alleging that the government is violating its First Amendment rights. The conflict arose last week when the Trump administration labeled the company a “supply chain risk” and banned government agencies, or any entity working with the US military, from using the Claude system. The Trump administration now calls Claude a national security risk. (The second lawsuit takes issue with this designation, which, until now, has never been used against a US company.)
The blacklisting followed months of fighting between Anthropic and the government. Anthropic wants to keep “safeguards” on Claude that prevent the system from being used to power autonomous weapons—basically, killing machines that can conduct military operations without human involvement—and to engage in widespread surveillance of Americans. The Trump administration wants the company to loosen those safeguards. Evidently, Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth wants the killer robots now, and he doesn’t like Anthropic getting in his way.
The government repeatedly threatened Anthropic with consequences if it didn’t remove its safety restrictions. It would appear the supply chain risk designation and associated blacklisting are those consequences.
All of this should make the Anthropic lawsuit a slam dunk, at least the First Amendment part, assuming there are still judges and justices willing to hold the Trump administration accountable to the Constitution, even in the realm of national security. Anthropic’s complaint makes a pretty clear cut case for a First Amendment violation (I’m less knowledgeable about the other claim, though my assumption, based on prior history, is that the Trump administration is indeed in violation of every law it’s accused of violating).
The simple facts are these: The government wanted Anthropic to make its AI do something. Anthropic didn’t want to make its AI do it, because of its beliefs, and those beliefs are protected under the First Amendment. The government punished Anthropic with an adverse national security designation, because the company wouldn’t do what the government wanted. That is a free speech violation.
It …
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