Anthropic sues US government after unprecedented national security designation
- Reference: 1772807870
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/06/anthropic_left_with_no_other/
- Source link:
CEO Dario Amodei confirmed on Thursday that the Department of War - an alternate name given to the Department of Defense under the Trump administration - notified the company of its long-rumored decision on March 4 via letter.
All your bots are belong to US if you don't play ball, DoD tells Anthropic [1]READ MORE
The designation, typically reserved for foreign adversaries, marks the first time a US company has been classified this way, and effectively bars Anthropic from securing military contracts.
Amodei [2]believes the decision is not "legally sound," and said "we see no choice but to challenge it in court."
The relationship breakdown stems from [3]Anthropic's refusal to let the government strip its safety guardrails , a move that would have allowed its AI to be used for fully autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance.
[4]
A day after Anthropic stated publicly that it would not allow its tech to be used in this way, President Trump used his own social media platform to [5]brand it "A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY," which made a "DISASTROUS MISTAKE" in trying to "strong-arm" the government into obeying its terms of service.
[6]
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Trump [8]accused Anthropic of ignoring the US Constitution and trying to take control of military operations from military commanders, before ordering all federal departments to stop using its products.
Amodei said in his latest missive: "we are very proud of the work we have done together with the Department," and in the previous days have had "productive conversations" about the ways in which it could work with the government while adhering to its two non-negotiables.
[9]
"As we stated last Friday, we do not believe, and have never believed, that it is the role of Anthropic or any private company to be involved in operational decision-making – that is the role of the military," he said.
"Our only concerns have been our exceptions on fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance, which relate to high-level usage areas, and not operational decision-making."
Amodei also apologized for the tone of an internal memo sent to Anthropic employees, which was [10]leaked on March 4, shortly after Trump's social media tirade.
[11]
"Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so – it is not in our interest to escalate this situation," he said.
"It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologize for the tone of the post. It does not reflect my careful or considered views. It was also written six days ago, and is an out-of-date assessment of the current situation."
[12]OpenAI's Altman says Pentagon set 'scary precedent' binning Anthropic
[13]AIs are happy to launch nukes in simulated combat scenarios
[14]Anthropic accuses China's AI labs of ripping off content – just like it did
[15]Terminators: AI-driven robot war machines on the march
The leaked memo followed the announcement of [16]OpenAI striking a deal with the Department of War to use its AI tech for military applications.
In a statement outlining its perspective on the deal, OpenAI claimed its agreement "has more guardrails than any previous agreement for AI deployments, including Anthropic's," with explicit red lines against autonomous weapons, high-stakes automated decisions, mass domestic surveillance, and use by intelligence agencies like the NSA.
As The Register [17]previously reported , in the same statement, originally published on February 28 and updated on March 2, OpenAI said it disagreed with the government's decision to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk.
"A good future is going to require real and deep collaboration between the government and the AI labs," it said. "As part of our deal here, we asked that the same terms be made available to all AI labs, and specifically that the government would try to resolve things with Anthropic; the current state is a very bad way to kick off this next phase of collaboration between the government and AI labs."
On why it succeeded where Anthropic apparently did not, OpenAI pointed to enforceability: cloud-only deployment, a functioning safety stack, and cleared personnel kept in the loop. "We don't know why Anthropic could not reach this deal, and we hope that they and more labs will consider it."
"Based on what we know, we believe our contract provides better guarantees and more responsible safeguards than earlier agreements, including Anthropic's original contract."
The Department of War did not respond to a request for comment. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/25/pentagon_threatens_anthropic/
[2] https://www.anthropic.com/news/where-stand-department-war
[3] https://www.anthropic.com/news/statement-department-of-war
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aasIL_arXwg7FsjCV5oqGAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116144552969293195
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aasIL_arXwg7FsjCV5oqGAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aasIL_arXwg7FsjCV5oqGAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/27/trump_orders_purge_of_anthropic/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aasIL_arXwg7FsjCV5oqGAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1rl6va1/anthropic_ceo_calls_openais_pentagon_announcement/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aasIL_arXwg7FsjCV5oqGAAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/open_ai_dow_anthropic_ai_ethics/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/25/ai_models_nuclear/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/24/anthropic_misanthropic_chinese_ai_labs/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/12/terminators_aidriven_robot_war_machines/
[16] https://openai.com/index/our-agreement-with-the-department-of-war/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/open_ai_dow_anthropic_ai_ethics/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Where are the sane Americans?
The Americans also got around slavery. Created drug prohibition that targets minorities (never heard of prisons being full of white suited up workers snorting coke like Henry at spring cleaning) and if you really really want to still keep slaves go into private prison industry and fulfil your dreams. This is of course separate layer to wage slavery that just targets working class and has been adopted in the UK too.
Re: Where are the sane Americans?
> Trump is a fascist. And a lunatic. Yet he has a lot of support.
Not to mention the U.S. now are officially self-proclaimed state terrorists - at least I am sure the U.S. would designate every country that manages or only attempts to kill their leader, for example with a road-side bomb in DC, as "state-terrorists"...
The only thing really exceptional with the current U.S. administration is their complete lack of mental reflection and self-awareness.
What "law" do you think you're suing under? The ones the previous governments put on the books? Forget about that, this is the Fascist States of America and Drumpf has proven by getting away with his actions that neither the US law nor US Constitution are relevant any more.
You're screwed.
Exactly. If Anthropic wanted a win, they should have sent an 18 wheeler full of cash to Mar-a-pedo instead.
Screwed?
"You're screwed"
Maybe, maybe not. The case must wend its way through lower courts and various levels of appeal. Many lower court judges don't seem to be big fans of MAGA. And God only knows what the relevant laws actually say. It's probably pretty much a crap shoot as to whether Anthropic will prevail in the court system. Of course, the Supreme Court would likely uphold Trump. But they decide which cases they want to look at and actually only elect to review a select few cases.
Anthropic probably thinks their chances of winning in court in court are sufficiently good to justify the money spent.
The future . . .
isn't bright, the future is orange.
Either with an orange tyrant or an orange glow from nuclear Armageddon.
Trump has Dementia
Anthropic is fighting the whims of a cruel, malignant narcissist who is riddled with dementia and has shown zero regard for following the law.
Suppose they do win in court. What makes them think this lawless administration will comply with the judge's ruling?
My aching sides
Sorry, am I the only one who has seen the US justice system (and frankly it was always "justice" system anyway) collapse into irrelevance these past years.
No matter how much you win, you will end up with a simple executive order that makes it all legal, or - if SCOTUS want to play act - a judgement the administration will ignore. Saying (literally) "You and whose army".
Where are the sane Americans?
The whole 'religious right' are wrong about everything. American 'Christianity' is one of the most hostile inhuman and inhumane concepts.
Trump is a fascist. And a lunatic. Yet he has a lot of support.
American 'exceptionalism' is just Naziism with the American flag.
American 'news media' is basically the heir to Goebbels.
American political 'donations' are nothing less than bribes. But America points the finger at 'corruption' overseas.
The USA used to have the world's highest prison rate by far. It was only surpassed recently by El Salvador - looked upon favourably by the Orange fascist.
Where are the sane Americans? Where are the rational voices?
The USA is a country apart alright. It's a despot's theme park.