A US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it designated AI company Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” after the company refused to meet certain Pentagon demands.
Judge Rita Lin blocked federal agencies involved in the case from enforcing the administration’s order to stop using Anthropic’s technology and overturned the company’s supply-chain risk designation.
The dispute began after Anthropic declined to allow its Claude AI model to be used for fully autonomous lethal weapons and domestic mass surveillance. The Pentagon responded by taking action against the company, arguing that private technology providers should not be able to restrict military applications.
Anthropic challenged the government’s actions, arguing that the designation violated its constitutional rights and could cause billions of dollars in financial losses and reputational damage. The company also argued that it had not been given adequate opportunity to challenge the designation.
In her ruling, Lin said national security concerns could not be used to punish or retaliate against companies for expressing protected views. She concluded that although the government has the authority to choose its technology suppliers, the measures imposed against Anthropic were unlawful.
The decision makes an earlier temporary suspension of the government’s actions permanent. However, the administration could appeal, and a separate lawsuit concerning Anthropic’s designation remains pending in Washington, DC.
The ruling represents a significant legal victory for Anthropic and could have broader implications for how the US government works with AI companies over military and national-security applications.
