Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has apologised after an internal company memo criticising US President Donald Trump was leaked to the media. The apology came as the US Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense) formally designated the artificial intelligence company as a "Supply Chain Risk" (SCR) to America's national security.

In a blog post published Thursday, Amodei confirmed that Anthropic received a letter from the Department of War on March 4 informing the company of the designation. He also said the firm plans to challenge the decision legally.

Government designates Anthropic as supply chain risk

Addressing the designation, Amodei said the company does not agree with the decision.

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“Yesterday (March 4) Anthropic received a letter from the Department of War confirming that we have been designated as a supply chain risk to America's national security. We do not believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court,” he said.

He added that the statute cited by the government, 10 USC 3252, is limited in scope and designed to protect government operations rather than punish suppliers.

According to Amodei, the designation "doesn't (and can't) limit uses of Claude or business relationships with Anthropic if those are unrelated to their specific Department of War contracts."

The CEO also noted that Anthropic had been "having productive conversations" with the Department of War in recent days regarding the issue.

Apology for leaked internal memo

Amodei addressed the controversy surrounding a leaked internal post in which he criticised President Trump.

He wrote, "I also want to apologise directly for a post internal to the company that was leaked to the press yesterday. Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so—it is not in our interest to escalate this situation."

The blog explained that the memo had been written shortly after several developments involving the government and the company.

"It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologise for the tone of the post. It does not reflect my careful or considered views. It was also written six days ago, and is an out-of-date assessment of the current situation."

What the designation means for customers

Anthropic clarified that the SCR designation is limited in scope and applies only to certain government-related contracts.

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The company said the restriction affects the use of its AI model Claude specifically in Department of War contract work.

For other users, the services remain unaffected.

"If you are an individual customer or hold a commercial contract with Anthropic, your access to Claude—through our API, claude.ai, or any of our products—is completely unaffected," the company said.

Anthropic also stated that contractors working with the Department of War can still use Claude for non-government projects.