Anthropic is attracting an increasing number of supporters in its fight against the U.S. Department of Defense. Last month, the Pentagon designated the AI lab as a supply-chain risk after it refused to make concessions on how its artificial intelligence could be used by the military.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren equated the decision with retaliation. She argued the Pentagon could have simply terminated its contract with Anthropic. Warren expressed particular concern that the Department of Defense is trying to pressure American companies into providing tools for mass surveillance of citizens and for deploying fully autonomous weapons without adequate safeguards. She stated the barring of Anthropic appears to be punitive.
Warren’s position echoes many other organizations that have spoken out against the Defense Department’s treatment of Anthropic. Several tech companies and employees from firms like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, alongside legal rights groups, have filed legal briefs in support of the AI lab. They denounce the supply-chain risk designation, a label usually applied to foreign adversaries and not American firms.
The dispute originated when Anthropic told the Pentagon it did not want its AI systems used for mass surveillance of Americans. The company also stated its technology was not ready for use in the targeting or firing decisions of lethal autonomous weapons without human intervention. The Pentagon contested that a private company should not dictate how the military uses technology, and soon after applied the “supply-chain risk” label. This designation requires any company or agency working with the Pentagon to certify it does not use Anthropic’s products or services, effectively barring the AI lab from working with any government contractor.
Senator Warren’s letter comes a day before a key hearing in San Francisco. A district judge will decide whether to grant Anthropic a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo while its case against the Department of Defense is litigated.
Anthropic is suing the DoD for infringing on its First Amendment rights and punishing the company on ideological grounds. The Defense Department has maintained that Anthropic’s refusal to allow all lawful military uses of its technology was a business decision, not protected speech. The Pentagon states the designation was a straightforward national security call, not a punishment for the company’s views.
The AI lab recently submitted two declarations to the court claiming the government’s logic is flawed. These filings argue the Pentagon’s position depends on technical misunderstandings and raises concerns not discussed during earlier negotiations.
Separately, Senator Warren has also written to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. She requested details of his company’s agreement with the Department of Defense, which was announced just one day after the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic.
Both Anthropic and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on these developments.