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The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday evening that Anthropic poses an \u201cunacceptable risk to national security,\u201d marking the agency\u2019s first rebuttal to the AI lab\u2019s lawsuits<\/a> challenging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s decision last month to label the company a supply chain risk<\/a>. As part of its complaints, Anthropic had requested the court temporarily block the DOD from enforcing its label.<\/p>\n The crux of the DOD\u2019s argument, made in a 40-page filing<\/a> in a California federal court, is the concern that Anthropic might \u201cattempt to disable its technology or preemptively alter the behavior of its model\u201d before or during \u201cwarfighting operations\u201d if the company \u201cfeels that its corporate \u2018red lines\u2019 are being crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthropic last summer signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon to deploy its technology within classified systems. In later negotiations over the terms of the contract, Anthropic said<\/a> it did not want its AI systems to be used for mass surveillance of Americans, and that the technology wasn\u2019t ready for use in targeting or firing decisions of lethal weapons. The Pentagon contested that a private company shouldn\u2019t dictate how the military uses technology.<\/p>\n Many organizations have spoken out against the DOD\u2019s treatment of Anthropic, arguing that the department could have just ended its contract. Several tech companies and employees \u2014 including from OpenAI, Google<\/a>, and Microsoft \u2014 as well as legal rights groups have filed amicus briefs in support of Anthropic.\u00a0<\/p>\n In its lawsuits, Anthropic accused the DOD of infringing on its First Amendment rights and punishing the company based on ideological grounds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A hearing on Anthropic\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction is set for next Tuesday.<\/p>\n Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n