Pentagon told Anthropic the sides were nearly aligned after designation

Anthropic filed two sworn declarations and a reply brief in a California federal court late Friday, contesting the Pentagon’s claim that the company poses an “unacceptable risk to national security.” The filings argue the government’s case rests on technical misunderstandings and on allegations that were not raised during months of prior negotiations.

The submissions come ahead of a March 24 hearing before Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco. Sarah Heck, Anthropic’s head of policy who attended the February 24 meeting with CEO Dario Amodei and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, says a central government claim is false: Anthropic never sought an approval role over military operations.

Heck also says the Pentagon’s concern that Anthropic might disable or alter its technology mid-operation was not raised in negotiations and first appeared in the government’s court filings.

United States, San Francisco

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