A US federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from cutting Anthropic off from the US government, ruling that the move was unconstitutional retaliation over the company’s AI policies.
District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the administration’s actions violated Anthropic’s First Amendment and due process rights, finding that the company had been punished for its protected position on AI safeguards, CBS News reported.
The ruling blocks the government from enforcing the measures used to exclude Anthropic from federal business, including its designation as a supply-chain risk and orders for federal agencies to stop using its technology.
“We welcome the court’s ruling that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful,” an Anthropic spokesperson told CBS News. “We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.”
Trump-Anthropic Dispute
Lin’s ruling follows a months-long dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon over restrictions on how the company’s Claude AI models could be used for military purposes.
Anthropic had sought to prevent Claude from being used for mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, while the Pentagon argued that the AI should be available for all lawful military purposes.
The dispute escalated after negotiations broke down earlier this year, with the Trump administration ordering federal agencies to stop using Claude and the Pentagon designating Anthropic a supply-chain risk.
Judge Rejects Security Argument
Lin rejected the administration’s claim that Anthropic posed a national security threat, saying it had provided no evidence that the company could sabotage Claude after deployment.
She noted that the Pentagon was still seeking to work with Anthropic on advanced AI.
Lin ruled that the government denied Anthropic the required notice and an opportunity to respond, finding the supply-chain designation unlawful and arbitrary.
The Pentagon can still choose another AI provider, she said, but cannot use punitive measures to exclude Anthropic because of its position on safeguards.
“The government is certainly owed deference on weighty issues of national security,” Lin wrote in her 59-page opinion. She added that “the empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics.”
