Anthropic Files Sworn Declarations Challenging Pentagon Supply Chain Risk Claims Ahead of Tuesday Hearing

Anthropic filed sworn declarations disputing the Pentagon's assertion that the company poses a national security risk, ahead of a March 24 preliminary injunction hearing before Judge Rita Lin. The company's policy and public sector leaders contested claims around control and security risks, arguing key government concerns were never raised during negotiations and that deployed systems cannot be remotely altered. The DOJ responded that Anthropic's refusal to accept contract terms is 'conduct, not protected speech' and warned an AI vendor with model control could 'preemptively alter behavior during ongoing warfighting operations.' The designation, historically reserved for foreign adversaries, has never been applied to a domestic company. Nearly 150 retired judges plus Microsoft filed amicus briefs supporting Anthropic. The hearing constitutes the first major judicial test of whether the Trump administration exceeded its authority in weaponizing supply chain risk statutes against domestic policy disagreements.