The Trump administration's recent designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk to national security sends a message to government contractors that they must either fall in line with the government's demands or face the consequences.
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Anthropic filed a complaint March 9 in California federal court, as well as a petition before the D.C. Circuit, seeking to challenge Hegseth's designation. Presumably, the same demand presented to Anthropic will be presented to other AI companies looking to provide their products to the government on classified networks, Powers said.
Kenneth J. Nunnenkamp, an international trade partner with Blank Rome LLP, said he suspects that the DOD has already come up with a justification for Hegseth's designation that creates a nexus between Anthropic's unwillingness to allow the government to use Claude in the way it desires and the national security risk identified by the DOD.
The government might also argue that Anthropic failed to exhaust the potential remedies before challenging the designation in court, Nunnenkamp said, pointing out that the DOD guidance provided in its letter to Anthropic gives the company 30 days to request reconsideration of the designation.
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As for those contractors currently performing on a contract, Dominique L. Casimir, co-chair of Blank Rome's general litigation practice group whose practice focuses on government contracts, said some are choosing to inventory where and how they're using Anthropic's technology to prepare themselves for when they're made to stop using the company's technology via a contract modification.
Others are choosing not to expand their existing relationships with the company because of the "cloud of uncertainty" created by the supply chain risk designation and subsequent litigation, Casimir said.
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"DOD-Anthropic Fallout Sends Warning Signal to Contractors," by Madeline Lyskawa was published in Law360 on March 16, 2026.
