Tech
DOD says Anthropic’s ‘red lines’ make it an ‘unacceptable risk to national security’
The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday evening that Anthropic poses an “unacceptable risk to national security,” marking the agency’s first rebuttal to the AI lab’s lawsuits challenging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision last month to label the company a supply-chain risk. As part of its complaints, Anthropic had requested the court temporarily block the DOD from enforcing its label.
The crux of the DOD’s argument, made in a 40-page filing in a California federal court, is the concern that Anthropic might “attempt to disable its technology or preemptively alter the behavior of its model” before or during “warfighting operations” if the company “feels that its corporate ‘red lines’ are being crossed.”
Anthropic last summer signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon to deploy its technology within classified systems. In later negotiations over the terms of the contract, Anthropic said it did not want its AI systems to be used for mass surveillance of Americans, and that the technology wasn’t ready for use in targeting or firing decisions of lethal weapons. The Pentagon contested that a private company shouldn’t dictate how the military uses technology.
In response, an Anthropic spokesperson pointed to CEO Dario Amodei’s late February statement: “Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner.”
Chris Mattei, a lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues and a former Justice Department attorney, told TechCrunch there has been no investigation to support the DOD’s concerns of Anthropic potentially disabling or altering its AI models during warfighting operations. Without that evidence, the department’s argument fails to adequately explain how Anthropic’s negotiating position rendered it an “adversary,” Mattei argued.
“The government is relying completely on conjectural, speculative imaginings to justify a very, very serious legal step they’ve taken against Anthropic,” Mattei said. He added the department failed to “articulate a credible or even comprehensible rationale for why Anthropic’s refusal to agree to an ‘all lawful use’ provision rendered it a supply chain risk as opposed to a vendor that DOD simply didn’t want to do business with.”
Many organizations have spoken out against the DOD’s treatment of Anthropic, arguing that the department could have just ended its contract. Several tech companies and employees — including from OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft — as well as legal rights groups have filed amicus briefs in support of Anthropic.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026
In its lawsuits, Anthropic accused the DOD of infringing on its First Amendment rights and punishing the company based on ideological grounds.
“In many ways, the government’s nonsensical arguments are themselves the best evidence that the administration’s conduct was plainly a retaliatory punishment for Anthropic’s refusal to agree to the government’s terms, which, contrary to the government’s brief, is a form of protected expression,” Mattei told TechCrunch.
A hearing on Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction is set for next Tuesday.
An Anthropic spokesperson told TechCrunch that its decision to seek judicial review does not change its “longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security,” but that it’s a “necessary step” to protect its business, customers, and partners.
This article has been updated to include information from Chris Mattei, a constitutional rights lawyer, and comments from Anthropic.
Tech
Apple to pay $250M to settle lawsuit over Siri’s delayed AI features
Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over how it marketed its AI features ahead of the launch of the iPhone 16. The Financial Times was the first to report the news.
The lawsuit alleged that Apple exaggerated the breadth of features Apple Intelligence would bring, which included a significantly upgraded version of its assistant, Siri. The complaint alleges that the company created the impression that advanced AI capabilities would be available to users sooner than they actually were. In particular, the plaintiffs allege that Apple overstated both the readiness and functionality of these features, particularly the promised improvements to Siri, which have yet to fully materialize.
As a result, the complaint claims, people who bought the iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 believed they were paying for cutting-edge AI tools that were not actually available at the time of purchase. The lawsuit framed this as false advertising, and says Apple’s marketing influenced buying decisions based on features that were incomplete or delayed.
Apple did not admit to wrongdoing in court, but has chosen to settle the case rather than continue with litigation. Under the proposed agreement, eligible U.S. customers who purchased the iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025 could receive up to $95 per device.
Apple has been touting a more advanced version of Siri ever since it unveiled Apple Intelligence in 2024 during WWDC. The anticipated updates are expected to help Siri function more like modern AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Claude. The upgraded experience is rumored to be powered by Google Gemini, though newer reports state the company’s next iPhone operating system may let users choose from a number of third-party large language models.
The settlement arrives ahead of Apple’s annual developer conference on June 8, when the company is expected to preview a version of its AI-enhanced Siri.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Tech
ElevenLabs lists BlackRock, Jamie Foxx, and Eva Longoria as new investors
Voice AI company ElevenLabs revealed new investors that are part of its $500 million Series D fundraise, which was first announced in February. The additions include institutions such as BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders; enterprises like Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom; and individual investors such as Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.
The startup also noted that it surpassed $500 million in ARR (annual recurring revenue), after ending last year with nearly $350 million in ARR. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Mati Staniszewski, said last month that ElevenLabs added $100 million in net new ARR in Q1 2026, ending the quarter at roughly $450 million in ARR.
The company has also accelerated its valuation rapidly, growing from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion this February.
“Voice is the highest-stakes channel for any customer interaction, and the bar for quality, latency, and security is extremely high. ElevenLabs is not just a category leader – it is becoming a foundational enabler of Deutsche Telekom’s broader Industrial AI vision. From voice-as-a-service to multilingual automation and in-network AI agents, we believe the company is uniquely positioned to reshape how businesses interact with customers across all channels,” Karine Peters, managing director at Deutsche Telekom’s venture arm T.Capital, said in a statement.
In the past quarter, the voice AI company has signed enterprise contracts with the likes of Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna.
ElevenLabs said that, besides the fundraising, it also closed a $100 million tender, a second in roughly six months after the company issued one last September. Staniszewski said in a blog post that the company will give an opportunity to retail investors to invest in ElevenLabs through Robinhood Ventures, but didn’t provide details about the program.
Staniszewski noted that consumers won’t trust systems that sound robotic or “interact strangely” and emphasized the importance of building “human-level AI voice models.” Last month, the company acquired the team from Polish voice AI startup Papla to bolster its research team.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Tech
Kaspersky suspects Chinese hackers planted a backdoor into Daemon Tools in ‘widespread’ attack
Security researchers at Kaspersky say they have identified a malicious backdoor planted in the popular and long-running Windows disc imaging software, Daemon Tools.
The Russian cybersecurity company said on Tuesday that data collected from computers around the world running the Kaspersky antivirus software shows a “widespread” attack is under way, targeting thousands of Windows computers running Daemon Tools.
The hackers, whom Kaspersky has linked to a Chinese-language speaking group based on an analysis of the malware, used the backdoor in Daemon Tools to plant additional malware on a dozen computers across the retail, scientific and manufacturing sectors, as well as government systems. Kaspersky said the hacking of these specific computers implied a “targeted” effort.
The company said the targeted organizations are located in Russia, Belarus, and Thailand.
Kaspersky said the backdoor was first detected on April 8.
Kaspersky said it had contacted Disc Soft, the company that maintains Daemon Tools, but did not say if the developer responded or took action. Kaspersky said the supply chain attack is “still active,” suggesting that the hackers can still plant malware on thousands of computers running the disc imaging software.
This is the latest in a string of so-called “supply chain” attacks that have targeted developers of popular software in recent months. Hackers are increasingly taking aim at the accounts of developers who work on widely used code and software, and abusing that access to push malicious code to anyone who relies on the software. This approach lets the hackers break into a large number of computers at once when their malicious code is delivered as a software update.
Earlier this year, hackers associated with the Chinese government hijacked the popular text editing software Notepad++ to deliver malware to a number of organizations with interests in East Asia. Security researchers also warned of another attack last month targeting users who visited the website of CPUID, which makes the popular HWMonitor and CPU-Z tools.
TechCrunch downloaded the Windows installer from Daemon Tools’ website, and the file appeared to contain the backdoor when we checked it with the online malware scanner service VirusTotal.
It’s not known if the macOS version of Daemon Tools was compromised, or if other apps made by Disc Soft are affected.
When contacted for comment, a Disc Soft representative said they are “aware of the report and are currently investigating the situation.”
“Our team is treating this matter with the highest priority and is actively working to assess and address the issue. At this stage, we are not in a position to confirm specific details referenced in the report. However, we are taking all necessary steps to remediate any potential risks and to ensure the security of our users,” the representative said.
Do you know more about the cyberattack targeting Daemon Tools users? Did you receive an antivirus alert saying you were affected? We want to hear from you. To contact this reporter securely, reach out via Signal username zackwhittaker.1337.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Apple to pay $250M to settle lawsuit over Siri’s delayed AI features
Checks for Spring!
