Anthropic states in court documents that there is no "shutdown switch" for the AI models deployed to the Pentagon.

CryptoWorld News reports that, according to Beating monitoring, Anthropic has filed documents with the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, saying that once its AI model is deployed in the Pentagon environment, the company has neither visibility nor technical means to control or shut down the model, and there is no “kill switch.” Anthropic also noted that the Pentagon had the opportunity to test the model before deployment. This document is the latest development in the dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon over the “supply chain risk” label. This year in March, the Pentagon listed Anthropic as a supply chain risk, citing the company’s improper interference in how its technology is used in sensitive military operations. The crux of the dispute is that Anthropic’s usage policy prohibits Claude from being used for autonomous weapons or large-scale surveillance, which the Pentagon views as “smokescreens.” The lawsuit has currently led to a split between the two courts: the Washington court dismissed Anthropic’s request to pause the supply chain risk label, while a California court approved it. The practical effect is that Anthropic cannot take part in new Pentagon contracts, but it can continue providing services to other government agencies. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pushing for the deployment of Anthropic’s new model Mythos across federal agencies, and agency heads are studying how to use Mythos to defend against cyberattacks—contradicting the Pentagon’s position that Anthropic poses a national security risk. The next hearing is scheduled for May 19.