US judge blocks Pentagon blacklisting of AI firm Anthropic

US judge blocks Pentagon blacklisting of AI firm Anthropic

A federal judge in Washington has halted the Department of Defense’s designation of AI company Anthropic as a national‑security supply‑chain risk, ruling that the Pentagon acted illegally. In a 59‑page written order issued Thursday night, District Judge Rita Lin—appointed by former President Joe Biden—found that the Defense Department had overstepped its authority by banning the company from military contracts, citing the firm’s public criticism of the military’s stance on artificial‑intelligence deployment.

The ruling comes after Anthropic filed a lawsuit in a California federal court, arguing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to blacklist the company violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and due process. The company’s refusal to allow the military to use its Claude AI models for U.S. surveillance or autonomous weapons was the trigger for the designation, which effectively barred Anthropic from bidding on defense contracts and could cost the firm billions in lost business.

Judge Lin’s order rebuked the Pentagon for punishing the firm for its criticism. “The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” the judge wrote. At a hearing on July 30, Lin described the government’s position as “really troubling” and “at odds…with the First Amendment,” noting that the record had “gotten worse for the government” over time.

Anthropic maintains that its Claude models are not reliable enough for autonomous weapons and opposes domestic surveillance. The Pentagon, meanwhile, insists that private companies should not constrain military action. During the same hearing, Department of Justice lawyers argued that the nature of AI models is “so staggeringly enormous and opaque” that the Pentagon cannot evaluate them in the same way it evaluates physical hardware.

The designation is the first time a U.S. company has been publicly labelled a supply‑chain risk under an obscure procurement statute aimed at protecting military systems from foreign sabotage. Anthropic’s lawsuit claims that the Pentagon’s action was unlawful, unsupported by facts, and inconsistent with the military’s past praise of Claude. The company said it remains “focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.”

Anthropic welcomed the ruling, saying it had “remained focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.” The company’s executives said the ban could cost billions of dollars in lost business, but they also noted that the decision had been a setback for the firm’s broader strategy of engaging with the U.S. military.

There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon in response to the ruling. The Department of Defense is expected to appeal the decision, arguing that the designation was necessary to protect national security and that the company’s refusal to cooperate on military projects justified the action.

The case highlights the growing tension between private AI developers and the U.S. military over the safe and ethical use of artificial intelligence on the battlefield. While the judge’s ruling temporarily restores Anthropic’s access to defense contracts, the broader legal battle over the limits of government authority and corporate free speech remains unresolved. The outcome will likely influence how the Pentagon approaches future collaborations with AI firms and how those firms can express concerns about AI safety and deployment.