WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. legal technology company on Tuesday sued the federal government, challenging a directive by President Donald Trump’s administration that resulted in the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic halting access to two of its most advanced models for users worldwide.
Legion LegalTech Corp filed its lawsuit in Washington, D.C., federal court, saying a June 12 order by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security unlawfully required Anthropic to disable its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for “any foreign national.” Anthropic turned off access for all customers the same day to ensure compliance.
San Jose, California-based Legion says it depends on Anthropic’s tools for its software platform and that the U.S. government’s action immediately cut off access for members of its Canada-based software development team and disrupted its business. The company builds drafting and case-management tools for attorneys.
"The harm to Legion is immediate, irreparable, and existential," the lawsuit said. "The pace of frontier AI advancement is blistering, and competitive ground lost during a suspension cannot be regained after the fact."
The Commerce Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Anthropic is not a party to the litigation.
Anthropic on Tuesday referred to a prior statement that said it was “grateful to the administration for their ongoing partnership in working to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible.”
Legion asked a U.S. judge to vacate and set aside the administration’s directive targeting Anthropic. The company also said it would ask for a preliminary order to bar the administration from enforcing the directive.
Anthropic and the United States are locked in legal battles in Washington and California federal courts. Anthropic sued the Trump administration after the government moved to place the company on a supply-chain blacklist over its refusal to allow the military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington; Editing by Matthew LewisEditing by Matthew Lewis)
