US judge blocks Pentagon’s Anthropic blacklisting

On Thursday, a U.S. judge halted the Pentagon's move to blacklist Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI. Anthropic filed a lawsuit in California federal court, arguing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth exceeded his authority when he labeled Anthropic a national security supply-chain risk. This designation, unprecedented, barred Anthropic from certain military contracts after the company declined to permit military use of its Claude AI models for surveillance or autonomous weapons.

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, appointed by former Democratic President Joe Biden, ruled the Pentagon's decision illegal and baseless in a 59-page order. She emphasized that the empty invocation of national security does not allow for punishing and retaliating against government critics. Anthropic expressed relief at the ruling, stating its continued focus on productive collaboration with the government to harness AI for national security benefits for all Americans.

The Pentagon did not comment immediately on the ruling. The company contends that AI models lack the reliability needed for safe use in autonomous weapons and opposes domestic surveillance as a violation of rights. However, the Pentagon maintains that private companies should not be able to hinder military action. This designation marked the first time a U.S. company received such a label under an obscure government procurement statute designed to safeguard military systems from foreign sabotage.

In its March 9 lawsuit, Anthropic alleged that the government violated its First Amendment right to free speech by retaliating against its views on AI safety since it was not given an opportunity to contest the designation. Anthropic argued the decision lacked factual support and was inconsistent with the military's prior endorsement of Claude.

The Justice Department countered that Anthropic's refusal to lift the restrictions could lead to uncertainty in Pentagon use of Claude and potentially disable military systems during operations. They claimed the designation stemmed from Anthropic's refusal to accept contractual terms, not its views on AI safety. Another lawsuit is pending in Washington, D.C., concerning a separate Pentagon supply-chain risk designation potentially leading to exclusion from civilian government contracts.