White House prepares executive order to remove Anthropic's Claude AI from federal systems: Axios

The White House is preparing an executive order to formally direct federal agencies to remove artificial intelligence systems developed by Anthropic from government operations, Axios reported on Monday. If issued, the move would mark an extraordinary escalation in the administration’s dispute with the AI startup. It could also reshape how Washington procures and deploys advanced artificial intelligence tools.

According to Axios, the draft order would instruct federal agencies to eliminate Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, from official systems and contracts. The order could be issued as soon as this week, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Escalating clash between the White House and Anthropic

The reported directive would intensify an ongoing legal confrontation between the Trump administration and Anthropic, which has already filed a lawsuit challenging the Pentagon’s decision to label the company a national security risk.

Anthropic said in a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that the government’s actions are unlawful and unprecedented.

“These actions are ‘unprecedented and unlawful,’ and that they are ‘harming Anthropic irreparably.’”

The dispute stems from a recent determination by the US Department of War designating the company as a “supply chain risk” — a classification historically reserved for foreign adversaries.

That designation requires defence contractors to certify that they do not use Anthropic’s models in work performed for the Pentagon.

Government agencies already beginning to phase out Claude

Some agencies have already begun removing the company’s technology from internal systems. Axios reported that departments, including the US Department of the Treasury, have started the process of offboarding Anthropic products.

The administration has argued that certain “safeguards” embedded in Anthropic’s AI models could pose national security risks if private companies were able to influence military operations or battlefield decisions.

Anthropic, however, has argued that the administration lacks legal authority to blacklist a domestic technology company in this manner.

In its filing, the company said the consequences of the government’s decision could be severe.

“Anthropic’s contracts with the federal government are already being canceled. Current and future contracts with private parties are also in doubt, jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars in the near-term,” the complaint states.

“On top of those immediate economic harms, Anthropic’s reputation and core First Amendment freedoms are under attack. Absent judicial relief, those harms will only compound in the weeks and months ahead.”

‘Woke AI’ criticism fuels policy shift

The confrontation intensified after US President Donald Trump publicly criticised Anthropic’s AI systems and instructed agencies to stop using them.

“WE will decide the fate of our Country — NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about,” Trump wrote on social media last month, directing federal agencies to “immediately cease” the use of the company’s technology.

The planned executive order would formalise that directive across the federal bureaucracy.

Limited precedent for targeting a US technology company

Legal experts note that there is little precedent for a presidential order singling out a specific American technology firm outside established procurement rules.

During Trump’s first term, the administration targeted foreign technology companies on national security grounds, including restrictions on Chinese telecommunications groups and actions affecting Huawei and TikTok.

However, in the Huawei case, the company was not explicitly named in the executive order; subsequent restrictions were enacted through legislation passed by Congress.

Anthropic’s lawsuit argues that federal procurement law does not give the administration authority to blacklist a domestic company based on its speech or corporate policies.

The company has asked the court to vacate the Pentagon’s designation and grant a stay while the legal challenge proceeds.