Trump Administration Won’t Rule Out Further Action Against Anthropic

In a pivotal court hearing, the U.S. Justice Department declined to promise it would stop penalizing AI company Anthropic. Attorney James Harlow told a federal judge the administration was "not prepared to offer any commitments" against further action. In fact, the White House is finalizing an executive order that would formally ban the use of all Anthropic tools across the federal government, a move first reported by Axios. This hearing was part of Anthropic's lawsuit challenging sanctions that designated it a national supply-chain risk, a label the company argues is unconstitutional and has turned it into an industry pariah.

The legal battle originated when Anthropic refused to sign a Pentagon agreement allowing its current AI technologies to be used by the military for "any lawful purpose." The company feared this could enable broad surveillance or autonomous weapons deployment. The Defense Department contends usage decisions are its prerogative. Legal experts like Yale's Harold Hongju Koh see this as part of a pattern of using national security laws to punish perceived political enemies. The case's outcome hinges on whether courts will defer to the government's national security claims or side with Anthropic's argument that the sanctions are an abuse of power.

Until resolved, the dispute creates major uncertainty for the tech industry. Software companies relying on Anthropic's suite of tools, like its Claude models, for government contracts now face practical dilemmas and potential disruption. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 24 in San Francisco, though Anthropic sought an earlier date to prevent further, what it calls, "irreparable" damage to its business, which has already seen billions in revenue put at risk.