A U.S. judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic, the maker of the AI chatbot Claude, in a high-stakes legal battle over AI safety on the battlefield.
Anthropic's lawsuit in California federal court alleges that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority when he designated Anthropic a national security supply-chain risk. The company claims the government violated its First and Fifth Amendment rights by retaliating against its views on AI safety and failing to provide due process.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, appointed by former President Joe Biden, agreed with Anthropic in a 43-page ruling but delayed its implementation for seven days to allow the administration to appeal.
Hegseth's move, which followed Anthropic's refusal to allow the military to use Claude for surveillance or autonomous weapons, blocked the company from certain military contracts, potentially costing it billions in lost business and reputational harm.
Lin stated that the government's actions seemed aimed at punishing Anthropic rather than protecting national security interests. 'Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation,' she wrote.
Anthropic's spokesperson Danielle Cohen expressed satisfaction with the decision. 'While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI,' Cohen said.
Anthropic's designation marks the first time a U.S. company has been publicly labeled a supply-chain risk under a government-procurement statute aimed at protecting military systems from foreign sabotage. The company has a second lawsuit pending in Washington, D.C., over a separate Pentagon supply-chain risk designation.