Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, judge rules

A US district judge has ruled that the US Department of Defense unlawfully retaliated against Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, when it designated the company as a supply chain risk. The Pentagon's move, which came in February, was the first time an American company had been publicly labeled as such. Anthropic argued that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority by making the designation.

US district judge Rita Lin found that citing national security "is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics." She also stated that the government's actions were "unprecedented and unlawful." Anthropic's lawsuit claimed that the government's actions were both unprecedented and unlawful. The company argued that its AI models were not suitable for military use, including surveillance or autonomous weapons, and that it opposed their use for domestic surveillance as a violation of rights.

The Pentagon had designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk due to its refusal to allow the military to use its AI models for these purposes. Judge Lin noted that the government's actions appeared to be a classic case of First Amendment retaliation, aiming to "cripple" Anthropic and "chill public debate" over military use of AI.