Anthropic has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government after being designated a supply-chain risk by the Trump administration. The case, lodged in a California district court, accuses the administration of retaliating against the company for refusing to relax its restrictions on the acceptable uses of its artificial intelligence technology, particularly concerning mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The company argues that the designation and related actions violate its constitutional rights and unlawfully punish it for its stance on AI safety.

The dispute follows weeks of tension between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over military applications of AI. The supply-chain risk label, typically reserved for foreign entities posing cybersecurity or national security threats, led President Donald Trump to order all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology within six months. The move sparked bipartisan concern about the potential chilling effect on companies that disagree with government policy.

According to the lawsuit, several agencies, including the General Services Administration, Treasury, and State Department, have already ended or plan to end contracts with Anthropic. The Pentagon declined to comment on the matter.