Federal Judge Rules Pentagon's Blacklisting of Anthropic Was Illegal
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it blacklisted AI company Anthropic from Pentagon contracts earlier this year.
Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found that the Department of Defense's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk was "illegal and baseless." The ruling marks Anthropic's first legal victory in what has become a monthslong dispute with the administration.
Anthropic had set ethical "red lines" on its AI technology, refusing to support uses such as lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance. The company filed its lawsuit in March, accusing the administration of unlawfully retaliating against it for these principled stances.
In her ruling, Judge Lin wrote: "The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics."
This case is separate from a second lawsuit Anthropic has filed in Washington, which remains ongoing.