A US federal judge has blocked the Pentagon from blacklisting Anthropic, dealing a major legal setback to the Trump administration in its fight with the company over how its artificial intelligence can be used by the military.
Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Defense Department acted unlawfully when it designated Anthropic a national security supply-chain risk, a move that threatened to cut the company off from military contracts and other government business. The dispute began after Anthropic refused to give the Pentagon unrestricted access to its Claude AI models for military use.
The company had objected to its systems being used for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. The Pentagon, meanwhile, wanted AI companies working with the military to allow their technology to be used for any lawful purpose, leading Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to label Anthropic a supply-chain risk.
In her ruling, the judge described the Pentagon's designation as illegal and baseless, noting that the government had violated constitutional rights and due process. The decision prevents the administration from cutting off the AI developer from federal contracts while the broader legal battle continues.