DOD says Anthropic ‘red lines’ make it an ‘unacceptable threat to national security’

The U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday evening that Anthropic poses an “unacceptable threat to national security,” marking the agency’s first official denial. AI lab cases contradicting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s suggestion last month that label the company as a supply chain risk. As part of its complaint, Anthropic asked the court to temporarily stop the DOD from enforcing its labels.

The purpose of the DOD’s argument, made in a Writing 40 pages in federal court in California, with concerns that Anthropic “could try to restrict its technology or deliberately change the quality of its model” before or during the “war” if the company “sees that the “red lines” of their industry are being crossed.”

Anthropic last summer signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon to use its technology in selected systems. In subsequent negotiations on the terms of the contract, Anthropic said it did not want its AI systems to be used to monitor the general public of Americans, and that the technology was not ready to be used for targeting or firing lethal weapons. The Pentagon has argued that a private company should not dictate how the military uses technology.

Many organizations have spoken out against the DOD’s handling of Anthropic, saying the department should have just terminated its contract. Several technology companies and employees – including from OpenAI, Googleand Microsoft — as well as legal rights groups have filed amicus briefs in support of Anthropic.

In its lawsuit, Anthropic accused the DOD of violating its First Amendment rights and punishing the company based on the proposal.

A hearing on Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction is set for next Tuesday.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.