March 9 (Reuters) – Anthropic filed a lawsuit on Monday to block the Pentagon from placing it on a national security blacklist, escalating the artificial intelligence lab’s high-stakes battle with the U.S. military over usage restrictions on its technology.
The AI startup’s lawsuit against the U.S. government, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among others, makes the following claims:
FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATION
The startup claimed that the Pentagon retaliated against Anthropic for protected activities in violation of the First Amendment, which ensures free speech rights.
Anthropic said in its lawsuit that the Constitution confers upon it “the right to express its views — both publicly and to the government — about the limitations of its own AI services and important issues of AI safety.”
The lawsuit claims that the U.S. government’s blacklisting of the company constitutes retaliation against Anthropic’s expressive activities, including protected speech, viewpoints and petitioning of the government.
PRESIDENTIAL ACTION BEYOND LEGAL AUTHORITY
Anthropic claimed that President Donald Trump directing the U.S. government to stop work with Anthropic — announced in a post on his social media platform Truth Social late last month — was “ultra vires,” or went beyond his legal power and authority.
FIFTH AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS
Anthropic alleges the U.S. government violated its Fifth Amendment rights to due process by effectively blacklisting the company without following required legal protocols.
According to the lawsuit, the government bypassed mandatory legal procedures by terminating contracts and blocking future work without providing prior notice or a meaningful opportunity to respond.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT VIOLATION
Anthropic alleged that the DOD designating the company as a supply-chain risk, and prohibiting the department’s contractors, suppliers and partners from conducting any commercial activity with it, violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
The APA sets out procedures agencies must follow when making decisions and permits courts to override agency actions that are arbitrary, an abuse of discretion or otherwise unlawful.
Anthropic said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to deem the company a supply-chain risk overstepped his authority, did not follow proper legal procedures and lacked supporting evidence.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa and Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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