Pentagon can’t blacklist Anthropic, US judge rules

A US federal judge declared unlawful the Pentagon's sanctions imposed in February against AI company Anthropic, concluding that the government had punished the artificial intelligence firm for publicly criticizing the military. Judge Rita Lin, in a 59-page decision, barred federal agencies from enforcing the president's order to halt Anthropic's tools and overturned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's designation of the company as a supply chain risk - a status typically reserved for foreign entities.

The ruling, which takes effect immediately, reinstates a temporary suspension of sanctions previously ordered by Judge Lin in March and will be subject to potential government appeal. Anthropic welcomed the court's decision, stating that the supply chain risk designation was unlawful and emphasizing its commitment to collaborating with the government to leverage AI for national security benefits.

The conflict originated when Anthropic declined to permit the US military to utilize its Claude AI models for fully autonomous lethal weapons or mass surveillance of American citizens. The judge observed that the sanctions were motivated by a desire to make a public example of Anthropic for its perceived arrogance in criticizing government actions, rather than to address any genuine threat.