- Pentagon defends blacklisting Anthropic as legal national security measure
- The company’s lawsuit claims that the designation violates freedom of expression and due process
- Court Battle Looms as Experts Say Anthropic May Have a Strong Case
The Trump administration said the Pentagon did not violate Anthropic’s speech protections under the First Amendment of the US Constitution when it blacklisted the artificial intelligence company earlier this year.
In a court filing the administration filed with the court earlier this week, it essentially endorsed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s designation that Anthropic was a risk to the national security supply chain, and found the blacklisting justified and legal. PakGazette reported.
In recent months, Anthropic, the company behind the famous Claude Artificial Intelligence solution, has been in negotiations with the Pentagon over lucrative deals that would allow Claude and other tools to be integrated into different US Department of Defense (DOD) projects.
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Responding with a demand
The negotiations reportedly collapsed after Anthropic refused to remove barriers that were put in place to protect the technology from the use of autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance.
Shortly after, the company was deemed a risk to the national security supply chain, to which Anthropic responded with a lawsuit.
In the lawsuit filed on March 9, the AI company said the “unlawful and unprecedented” designation violated its free speech and due process rights. At the same time, he said the designation also violated federal law that requires agencies to follow certain procedures when making these types of decisions.
“It was only when Anthropic refused to release restrictions on the use of its products (refusal which is conduct, not protected speech) that the President ordered all federal agencies to end their business relationships with Anthropic,” the document says. “No one has sought to restrict Anthropic’s expressive activity,” it was stated.
Anthropic asked the federal court in California to block the Pentagon’s decision until a ruling is issued. PakGazette says that “some legal experts” believe the company has “a strong case.” The company responded to the filing by saying that “seeking judicial review does not change our long-standing commitment to leveraging AI to protect our national security, but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers, and our partners.”
Through PakGazette
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