On Tuesday evening, the U.S. Department of Defense stated that Anthropic represents an “unacceptable risk to national security.” This declaration serves as the agency’s initial response to the AI lab’s legal challenges against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s move last month to designate the company as a supply chain risk. Among its requests, Anthropic sought a temporary court order to prevent the DOD from enforcing that designation.

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The core of the DOD’s position, detailed in a 40-page filing submitted to a federal court in California, centers on the worry that Anthropic could “attempt to disable its technology or preemptively alter the behavior of its model” in the midst of “warfighting operations” should the company believe “its corporate ‘red lines’ are being crossed.”

Last summer, Anthropic entered into a $200 million agreement with the Pentagon to integrate its technology into classified systems. During subsequent contract negotiations, the company expressed that its AI systems should not be employed for mass surveillance of American citizens and clarified that the technology was not yet suitable for use in targeting or decisions to fire lethal weapons. The Pentagon countered that a private entity should not have authority over how the military utilizes its technology.

Numerous organizations have criticized the DOD’s handling of Anthropic, suggesting the department could have simply terminated its contract instead. Several technology firms and employees—including individuals from OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft—along with legal rights groups, have submitted amicus briefs backing Anthropic.

In its lawsuits, Anthropic has accused the DOD of violating its First Amendment rights and penalizing the company on ideological grounds. A hearing regarding Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for next Tuesday. Anthropic did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.