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The Morning Risk Report: Anthropic Sues U.S. Defense Department, Pete Hegseth for Targeting the Company

By Richard Vanderford | Dow Jones Risk Journal

 

Good morning. Anthropic filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration for designating the artificial-intelligence company a security threat and trying to cancel its federal contracts, bringing the battle between the two sides to the court system.

  • Beyond the law: In designating Anthropic a supply-chain risk for the Pentagon and directing agencies to cut ties with the company, the administration went beyond its statutory authority with harsh retaliation because Anthropic didn’t agree on how AI should be used by the Defense Department, the company argued. Anthropic listed the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a host of federal agencies and many other administration officials as defendants.
     
  • Dispute on AI limits: The legal battle signals a new front in the fight between Anthropic and the Trump administration, which are feuding over what AI guardrails are needed at the Pentagon and in society broadly. In contract negotiations with the Defense Department, Anthropic wanted explicit guarantees that its AI tools wouldn’t be used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. The Pentagon said it wouldn’t do those things and always follows the law, so the company should trust it to use AI in all lawful scenarios.
     
  • Coming legal battle: The Trump administration has also cast Anthropic as a necessity, saying it could force them to work for the federal government by designating its products as a vital national security asset. The dual approach will likely bolster the company’s new legal challenge against its designation as a supply-chain risk, Max Fillion writes in Risk Journal.
 
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Three-quarters of companies believe they’re well-prepared to mitigate ransomware, but half still fell victim last year—and most are overlooking the system that determines whether they can recover. Read More

More Risk & Compliance articles from Deloitte
 

Compliance

Lady Gaga in concert last year in London. Photo: Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation

Live Nation reaches tentative deal with Justice Department in antitrust case.

The Justice Department and Live Nation reached a tentative agreement that would allow the dominant concert promoter to keep ownership of its Ticketmaster subsidiary after years of threats to break up the $25 billion business.

The settlement was announced Monday, one week into an anti-monopolization trial in which Live Nation’s chief Michael Rapino was expected to testify. Justice Department lawyers had accused Live Nation of stifling competition by dominating all aspects of the business—including concert promotions, ticketing, venues, artist management and sponsorships—and harming fans and artists.

 ‏‏‎ ‎
  • Archer Aviation, a company that designs electric flying taxis, sued Joby Aviation, alleging that its rival spent years deceiving federal regulators and investors by concealing extensive ties to Chinese suppliers.
     
  • Sturm Ruger, a firearms maker, said Beretta is seeking to gain control of the company through discounted share purchases and outsize governance rights.
     
  • The U.S. authorized Venezuela's state mining company to export gold to the U.S. under strict conditions.
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$85

The approximate price of a barrel of oil in U.S. after-hours trading Monday, down $35 from a peak Sunday. The pullback underscores how the war with Iran is scrambling the outlook for the fuel-hungry economy.

 

Risk

Crude prices at one point traded above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

U.S. and Western allies turn to reserves to counteract Gulf oil crisis.

After the 1973 oil shock, the U.S. and allies swore to maintain emergency stockpiles to make sure there could never be a repeat.

The blockage in the Persian Gulf poses the sternest test the reserves have ever faced. Finance ministers from Group of Seven economies met Monday to discuss whether to release crude to counteract the loss of Middle Eastern supplies.

 
  • Tehran was shrouded in thick, choking smoke from burning fuel depots as Mojtaba Khamenei took up his role as Iran’s new supreme leader over the weekend. Now he, too, is a marked man.
     
  • Emissions from a Chinese cobalt-processing plant in central Africa sickened residents and workers as the company raced to increase production of a mineral critical to making electric-car batteries, according to an investigation released Monday by a Washington environmental group.
     
  • Ohio State University’s president is resigning over an inappropriate relationship.
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“Very far ahead of schedule...very complete, pretty much.”

— President Trump on the progress of the conflict in Iran. The remarks seemed to calm some markets.
 

What Else Matters

  • Two men were charged in federal court Monday with attempting to carry out an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack at an anti-Islamic protest near New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence.
     
  • Airports are warning travelers to prepare to spend hours in security checkpoint lines, with the partial government shutdown stretching federal security workers.
     
  • Simon & Schuster has named former Amazon.com executive Greg Greeley as its new chief executive officer, effective immediately.
     
  • Wall Street firms are in a race to transform stocks and other traditional assets into digital tokens using the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
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About Us

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at max.fillion@dowjones.com, Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com and Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com.

You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editor David Smagalla at david.smagalla@wsj.com.

 
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