Anthropic asks judge to temporarily halt the Pentagon's ‘supply chain risk’ label

On March 24, Anthropic asked the San Francisco federal court to pause the Pentagon’s “supply chain risk” label. The case was heard by Judge Rita Lin, and the hearing was focused on the company’s blacklisting and a directive by Donald Trump banning federal agencies from using its artificial intelligence tools.

According to a CNBC report, a federal judge said that the Pentagon’s decision to blacklist Claude AI “looks like an attempt to cripple” the company. Now, Anthropic is asking the Judge for an emergency order to temporarily halt the Pentagon’s decision on the label and the ban. At the same time, Anthropic has filed another case in a federal appeals court in Washington, DC.

Lin said, “Everyone, including Anthropic, agrees that the Department of Defense (DoD) is free to stop using Claude and look for a more permissive AI vendor.” 

“I don't see that as being what this case is about. I see the question in this case as being a very different one, which is whether the government violated the law,” she added. 

Now, the court is expected to provide a decision on Anthropic's motion in the coming days. If the judge passes a temporary order, Anthropic will be able to keep working with government agencies and contractors till the case with Trump Administration is running.

If the court does not grant its requests, then the company is said to lose billions of dollars in business, and it will also damage its reputation.

Anthropic is stating that the DOD is unfairly retaliating as it failed to meet the demand, and it continues to refrain from using Claude AI for autonomous weapons or large-scale surveillance of Americans. 

The company has also filed a lawsuit against its risk label, saying that it is “unprecedented and unlawful,” and that it is already causing financial and reputational damage.