Judge blocks Pentagon's Anthropic blacklist

A federal judge in the United States has invalidated the Pentagon's decision to blacklist Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, holding that the government's actions infringed upon Anthropic's constitutional rights. The decision, penned by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in a 59-page opinion, signifies a significant legal triumph for Anthropic in its prolonged dispute with the Trump administration regarding the use of its AI models by the military.

Lin emphasized that the mere assertion of national security does not grant carte blanche to penalize or retaliate against government critics. The judge noted that the Pentagon continued to engage in collaborative efforts with Anthropic despite the designation. She contended that this behavior does not align with genuine concerns that Anthropic could be a saboteur deliberately corrupting its software to harm national security.

Anthropic's spokesperson expressed satisfaction with the court's ruling, stating that the company remains committed to productive cooperation with the government to leverage AI for national security, ensuring all Americans reap its benefits. The controversy began this year when Anthropic and the Pentagon disagreed on the military's use of Anthropic's AI models.

The Defense Department aimed to employ Anthropic's Claude AI for any lawful purpose, even in highly sensitive military and intelligence applications. Anthropic, however, insisted on restricting the use to two areas: avoiding mass surveillance of Americans and refraining from developing fully autonomous weapons.

Tensions escalated, culminating in the Pentagon branding Anthropic as a national security and supply-chain risk, prompting Anthropic to file a lawsuit. The government plans to appeal the ruling, while Anthropic is also contesting a separate Pentagon designation under a different statute in the D.C. Circuit.