tech
March 21, 2026
New court filing reveals Pentagon told Anthropic the two sides were nearly aligned — a week after Trump declared the relationship kaput
Anthropic submitted two sworn declarations to a California federal court late Friday afternoon, pushing back on the Pentagon's assertion that the AI company poses an "unacceptable risk to national security" and arguing that the government's case relies on technical misunderstandings and claims that were never actually raised during the months of negotiations.
TL;DR
- Anthropic denies demanding an approval role over military operations, stating this claim was not made during negotiations.
- The company disputes the Pentagon's assertion that it could disable technology mid-operation, calling it technically impossible due to air-gapped systems.
- A March 4 email from a Pentagon Under Secretary stated Anthropic and the government were "very close" on issues now cited as national security threats.
- Anthropic argues that its hiring of foreign nationals does not pose a security risk, as employees undergo security clearance vetting.
- The lawsuit claims the supply-chain risk designation is government retaliation for Anthropic's AI safety views, violating the First Amendment.
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