A US judge Thursday blocked the Pentagon from blacklisting Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing a setback to the US military in its high-stakes dispute with the maker of Claude over restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence in warfare.US District Judge Rita Lin, a Biden appointee, ruled that the Pentagon’s decision to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk was “illegal and baseless”, according to a 59-page order. She said the government could not use national security concerns as a justification for retaliating against companies over their policy positions.“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” she wrote.The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by Anthropic in a California federal court challenging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to designate the AI company a national security supply-chain risk. The designation restricted Anthropic’s access to certain military contracts and marked the first public designation of a US company as a supply-chain risk under a government procurement law intended to protect military systems from foreign sabotage.Anthropic had resisted allowing the military to use its Claude AI models for US surveillance or autonomous weapons. The company has argued that current AI systems are not sufficiently reliable for safe use in autonomous weapons and has opposed domestic surveillance on rights grounds.Anthropic welcomed the court’s decision, saying it remained committed to working with the US government on national security applications of AI.“focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.”The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The dispute escalated after Hegseth’s decision, which Anthropic said could cost it billions of dollars in lost business and cause reputational damage. The company argued that the Pentagon had exceeded its authority and retaliated against its position on AI safety.In its March 9 lawsuit, Anthropic alleged that the government had violated its First Amendment right to free speech by retaliating against its views on AI safety. It also argued that the Pentagon violated its Fifth Amendment right to due process by designating the company without giving it an opportunity to challenge the decision.Anthropic said the designation was unlawful, unsupported by facts and inconsistent with the military’s previous praise for Claude, its artificial intelligence model.The Justice Department disputed Anthropic’s claims, arguing that the company’s refusal to remove restrictions on the military use of its AI models could create uncertainty for the Pentagon over how Claude could be used. The government also warned that such uncertainty could risk disabling military systems during operations.The Justice Department said the Pentagon’s decision was based on Anthropic’s refusal to accept contractual terms rather than on the company’s views about AI safety.The legal dispute is not over. Anthropic has another lawsuit pending in Washington, D.C., challenging a separate Pentagon designation that could potentially prevent the company from securing civilian government contracts.The case highlights a growing conflict between the US government’s push to deploy advanced AI for national security and technology companies’ concerns about safeguards, autonomous weapons and surveillance.
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