The CEO of Anthropic describes the categorization of supply chain risk as "retaliatory and punitive" and threatens legal action

Washington: Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, has described the US government’s decision to label the company a “supply chain risk” as “retaliatory and punitive”, escalating a rare public clash between the White House and a leading American AI firm.

Amodei made the remarks in an interview with CBS News following a directive from the administration of Donald Trump ordering federal agencies to halt the use of Anthropic’s artificial intelligence systems and signalling potential further penalties.

“This designation has never happened before with an American company,” Amodei said. “And I think it was made very clear in some of their statements, in some of their language, that this was retaliatory and punitive. I don't know what else to call it. Retaliatory and punitive.”

Unprecedented designation

The term “supply chain risk” has traditionally been applied to foreign adversaries. Amodei noted that similar classifications have previously been used against overseas organisations such as Russia-linked cybersecurity firm Kaspersky and certain Chinese semiconductor suppliers — not US-based technology companies.

The move has intensified tensions between Anthropic and the US Department of Defense over the use of AI systems in military operations.

Legal challenge possible

Asked whether Anthropic would take legal action, Amodei said no formal steps had yet been taken by the government beyond public statements and social media posts.

“When we receive some kind of formal action, we will look at it, we will understand it, and we will challenge it in court,” he said.

Amodei downplayed the immediate business impact of the designation. “The impact of this designation is fairly small. Not only will Anthropic survive it, we’re going to be fine,” he said, suggesting that comments from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were intended to amplify perceived consequences.

“It was designed to create a situation where people believe the impact would be much larger… we won’t let them succeed,” he added.

Dispute over military AI use

The confrontation follows a February 24 meeting between Amodei and Hegseth. According to Amodei, Anthropic was given until February 27 to permit unrestricted military use of its Claude AI system or risk losing its government contract.

Amodei said he refused to compromise on two core issues: fully autonomous lethal targeting and AI-enabled domestic surveillance of US citizens.

He argued that current AI systems are “nowhere near reliable enough” to make life-and-death decisions independently. “Anyone who has worked with AI models understands that there’s a basic unpredictability to them,” he said, warning that fleets of autonomous drones or robotic systems operating without human oversight pose significant governance and safety risks.

On domestic surveillance, Amodei said the broader concern was the erosion of democratic norms, including citizens’ right not to be subjected to widespread AI-powered monitoring by the state.

The dispute underscores growing friction between AI developers and governments worldwide over how far artificial intelligence systems should be integrated into defence and national security operations.