FEDERAL JUDGE RULES PENTAGON'S ANTHROPIC BAN ILLEGAL

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk violated the First and Fifth Amendments. Judge Lin found that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's labelling of the artificial intelligence company as a national security threat constituted "unlawful retaliation" against the company's criticism of the administration's policies. The judge barred certain federal agencies from enforcing the order and said the decision was "arbitrary and capricious". An Anthropic spokesperson told media outlets the company welcomed the ruling and remained focused on working with the government on national security applications of artificial intelligence.

The dispute began in late February, when the Department of Defence pressured Anthropic to remove safeguards from its Claude model. Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei refused to allow the model to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons development. President Trump subsequently ordered all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic's services, with a six-month phase-out period. Anthropic became the first United States company designated as a supply chain risk. The company sued the White House in two separate federal courts to challenge two distinct designations related to the ban.

Judge Lin's 59-page decision stated that "the empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics". The ruling grants Anthropic victory on one of the two legal challenges, though the company remains designated as a supply chain risk pending the second court decision. Even if Anthropic prevails in both cases, the Pentagon would not be required to resume working with the company. Anthropic continues to pursue a likely near-record initial public offering later this year.