DOJ defends Anthropic blacklisting, calls the company an 'unacceptable national security risk'

The Trump administration filed a court response on March 17 defending the Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk, calling the company an unacceptable national security risk. The DOJ argued the blacklisting was justified and lawful and that Anthropic's refusal to remove safety guardrails is conduct, not protected speech. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the designation on March 3 after Anthropic declined to let its AI be used in autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance.

This is the government's first substantive response to Anthropic's lawsuits filed March 9, and it signals the administration intends to defend the designation aggressively. If the supply chain risk label stands, it sets a precedent that could spread beyond the Pentagon to all federal agencies — and potentially affect contracts with private companies that do business with the military. For Claude users in regulated industries, the outcome determines whether Anthropic-based tools become unavailable in government-adjacent contexts. Anthropic estimates the designation could cost billions in lost contracts this year.