AI Policy and National Security

Anthropic has sued the Pentagon over a Trump‑era national‑security blacklist and related actions — including Trump’s ban, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s contractor restrictions, and a supply‑chain‑risk designation — and at a March 24 hearing U.S. District Judge Rita Lin called the department’s treatment “troubling,” questioned whether the measures were narrowly tailored, and suggested the Pentagon could simply stop using Anthropic’s Claude if that were the concern. Anthropic is seeking preliminary relief to restore the status quo as of Feb. 26 by pausing the designation, blocking enforcement and rolling back actions, while the Pentagon says Anthropic seeks an “operational veto” and argues the company controls Claude in ways it sees as risky — a claim Anthropic disputes — and the judge expressed surprise that the Pentagon contends public blacklist posts are not legally binding.