US Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Pentagon Ban on Anthropic

A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Pentagon's effort to designate AI company Anthropic as a supply chain risk, ruling that the government's actions likely violated the company's constitutional rights.

US District Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic's request for a preliminary injunction on Thursday, barring federal agencies from carrying out President Donald Trump's directive against the AI company. The order is paused for seven days to allow the administration to appeal.

In a 43-page ruling, Lin wrote that the broad punitive measures taken against Anthropic appeared arbitrary, capricious, and could effectively cripple the company.

"Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government," Lin wrote.

The judge noted that the supply chain risk designation is typically reserved for foreign intelligence agencies and terrorists, not American companies. She emphasized that it was not until Anthropic raised concerns about how its technology could be used that the government announced a plan to blacklist the company.

The conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon emerged after the company refused to allow its Claude AI model to be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans, citing safety and responsibility concerns.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued the supply chain risk designation in late February, which required the Pentagon and its contractors to discontinue use of Anthropic's commercial AI services across all defense-related operations.

"This appears to be classic First Amendment retaliation," Lin wrote, pointing to officials' heated comments about Anthropic, including a post by Hegseth that called the company "sanctimonious" and said it "delivered a master class in arrogance."

An Anthropic spokesperson said the company was grateful for the court's swift action. "We're grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits.

While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI," the spokesperson said.

A separate challenge by the company to other authorities invoked to make the supply chain risk designation is still pending before a federal court in Washington, DC. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.