A federal judge in California ruled Thursday that the Trump administration's attempt to label Anthropic a national security risk was unconstitutional, blocking the Pentagon's effort to blacklist the AI company. The decision vacated a February 27 designation by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which labeled Anthropic a 'supply-chain risk' and barred it from federal contracts. The ruling also lifted a punitive measure that prevented contractors or suppliers to the US military from doing business with Anthropic, calling it 'arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law.'
The judge found that nine agencies, including the Pentagon, Treasury, State Department, and Homeland Security, had improperly imposed sanctions on Anthropic. The ruling removed those penalties, though it affirmed that the Pentagon is not required to use Anthropic’s models and can choose other options. A Pentagon spokesperson could not be reached for comment, but the department is expected to appeal. Anthropic spokesperson Danielle Cohen welcomed the ruling, stating that the supply-chain risk designation was unlawful and that the company remains focused on working with the government to use AI for national security.
The dispute originated from a $200 million deal between the Pentagon and Anthropic to use its Claude models for military applications. The rift began after reports that the US had used Claude in the operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. After the operation, a Palantir employee relayed concerns from an Anthropic staffer to US officials about how its models had been used. In negotiations, Anthropic insisted on limits on how its models could be deployed, including support for lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance systems, which Hegseth rejected, arguing that the contract allowed 'all lawful use.'
Source: wired
