A federal judge has temporarily sided with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, blocking the Pentagon from designating the company as a supply chain risk.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin announced her decision on Thursday, also halting President Donald Trump’s directive that ordered all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic’s services. The ruling follows a 90-minute hearing held in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday.
During the proceedings, Judge Lin questioned the Trump administration’s extraordinary step in denouncing Anthropic as a supply chain risk. This action reportedly came after defense contract negotiations soured, primarily due to Anthropic’s insistence on preventing its AI technology from being deployed in fully autonomous weapons or for the surveillance of Americans.
Anthropic, known for its chatbot Claude, had sought an emergency order to remove what it described as an unjustifiable stigma. The San Francisco-based company alleges this label was applied as part of an “unlawful campaign of retaliation,” prompting it to sue the Trump administration earlier this month.
The Pentagon had argued that it should be able to use Claude in any way it deems lawful.
Anthropic alleged its First Amendment free speech rights were violated through retaliation against its AI safety views. The company also claimed a Fifth Amendment due process breach, stating it was denied a chance to dispute a designation
Lin said her ruling was not about that public policy debate but about the government’s actions in response to it.
“If the concern is the integrity of the operational chain of command, the Department of War could just stop using Claude. Instead, these measures appear designed to punish Anthropic,” Lin wrote.
Anthropic has also filed a separate and more narrow case that is still pending in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
Lin wrote that her order is delayed for a week and doesn’t require the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s products or prevent it from transitioning to other AI providers.
