By COMFORT OGBONNA
A U.S. federal judge has blocked the Pentagon from blacklisting Anthropic, delivering a major legal victory to the artificial intelligence company in its escalating dispute with the U.S. military over restrictions on how its technology can be used in national security operations.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued the ruling Thursday in a 59-page order, finding that the Pentagon’s decision to designate Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk was unlawful and unsupported.
The ruling represents the latest development in a high-stakes dispute between the military and the maker of Claude, one of the country’s leading artificial intelligence systems.
The conflict began after Anthropic refused to allow the U.S. military to use its Claude AI models for certain forms of domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. The company has argued that current AI systems are not sufficiently reliable to be used safely in autonomous weapons and has raised concerns about the potential impact of domestic surveillance on individual rights.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth subsequently designated Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, a move that restricted the company’s ability to participate in certain military contracts.
Anthropic challenged the decision in federal court in California, arguing that the Pentagon had exceeded its legal authority and retaliated against the company because of its position on AI safety.
In her ruling, Lin, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, rejected the government’s justification for the designation and sharply criticized the use of national security as a basis for punishing a private company.
“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Lin wrote.
Anthropic welcomed the decision, saying it remained committed to working with the government on national security applications of artificial intelligence.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dispute highlights growing tensions between the U.S. government and technology companies over the use of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems in military operations.
Anthropic has sought to establish limits on how its models can be deployed, particularly in areas involving autonomous weapons and surveillance. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has argued that private technology companies should not be able to impose restrictions that could limit military capabilities or interfere with national security operations.
The legal battle also centers on constitutional protections.
In its lawsuit, Anthropic argued that the government’s decision violated its First Amendment rights by retaliating against the company for expressing views about AI safety. The company also argued that it was denied an opportunity to challenge the designation, violating its Fifth Amendment right to due process.
Anthropic maintained that the Pentagon’s decision was not supported by the facts and conflicted with the military’s previous assessments and use of Claude.
The company also argued that its refusal to accept certain contractual terms was being treated as a national security threat rather than as a legitimate disagreement over how an emerging technology should be deployed.
The government offered a different explanation.
The Justice Department argued in court filings that Anthropic’s refusal to remove its restrictions created uncertainty over how the Pentagon could use Claude. Officials said that uncertainty could potentially interfere with military operations or create risks if AI systems became unavailable during an operation.
The government maintained that the supply-chain risk designation was based on Anthropic’s contractual restrictions rather than the company’s views on AI safety.
The case is significant because the Pentagon’s designation was reportedly the first public instance of a U.S. company being labeled a supply-chain risk under a relatively obscure federal procurement law intended to protect military systems from potential foreign infiltration, sabotage or other security threats.
Anthropic has argued that applying such a designation to the company was an extraordinary step that could have far-reaching consequences for the technology industry.
The company previously warned that being excluded from military business could cost it billions of dollars in lost revenue while also damaging its reputation with other government and commercial customers.
The ruling does not end Anthropic’s broader legal battle with the government.
The company has another lawsuit pending in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenging a separate Pentagon supply-chain risk designation. That case could affect Anthropic’s ability to obtain civilian federal contracts.
The disputes come as the U.S. government increasingly turns to private technology companies to develop and provide artificial intelligence systems for military, intelligence and other national security applications.
AI companies have been under growing pressure to determine how far their technologies should be used by government agencies, particularly as advances in artificial intelligence make the systems more capable of analyzing information, assisting with decision-making and operating with limited human intervention.
For the Pentagon, access to advanced AI systems is increasingly viewed as an important component of maintaining technological advantages. For companies such as Anthropic, the question is how to participate in government programs without allowing their technology to be used in ways they consider unsafe or inconsistent with their policies.
The court’s decision therefore carries implications beyond the immediate dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon. It could influence how government agencies use procurement and national security authorities when dealing with technology companies that impose restrictions on the use of their products.
For now, Anthropic has secured a temporary reprieve from one of the government’s most consequential actions against the company. The broader legal fight, however, remains unresolved, with the separate Washington case still pending and the government expected to continue defending its authority to determine which companies can supply technology to the U.S. military and federal agencies.
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