Judge rejects Pentagon's attempt to 'cripple' Anthropic

Anthropic has won an early round in its lawsuit against the Pentagon.

Judge Rita Lin on Thursday sided with the artificial intelligence (AI) company in an order finding that directives from President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that all government agencies immediately stop using Anthropic tools could not be enforced for the time being.

Judge Lin wrote in her order that the government was attempting to "cripple Anthropic" and "chill public debate" because of the company's concerns over how its technology was being used by the US Department of Defense.

"This appears to be classic First Amendment retaliation," the judge added.

The order means that Anthropic's tools, like Claude, will continue to be used in the government and by any outside company working with the military until the lawsuit is resolved.

Representatives of the White House and the Department of Defense did not respond to requests for comment.

An Anthropic spokeswoman said the company was "pleased" with the ruling from the federal court in California, but its focus "remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI."

Anthropic earlier this month sued the Department of Defense and a number of other agencies after Trump berated the company publicly and then Hegseth labelled it a "supply chain risk" – the first time a US company has ever publicly received such a designation.

The designation means a tool or service is not secure enough for government use, and is historically reserved for companies based in adversarial countries.

Anthropic said in its lawsuit its business had been impacted by the government's actions and its right to freedom of speech had been violated.

The Pentagon has argued in the case that it came to fear what Anthropic could do with its technology, which is widely used in government and military operations, because of its refusal to accept new contract terms. That created a genuine need for the supply chain risk label.

Judge Lin noted in her order that Trump and Hegseth in their public statements referred to Anthropic as "woke" and comprised of "left-wing nut jobs," not its lack of security.

"If this were merely a contracting impasse, DoW would presumably have just stopped using Claude," Judge Lin wrote, referencing the Department of War, a secondary name for the Department of Defense. "The challenged actions, however, far exceed the scope of what could reasonably address such a national security interest."

Anthropic had been negotiating with the Department of Defense for months prior to filing its lawsuit over new demands linked to a planned expansion of its $200m contract.

The Pentagon wanted the contract to only say it could use Anthropic's tools for "any lawful use". Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei were concerned that would open the door to its tools being used for mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons.

The fight spilled into public view in February, with Hegseth issuing a deadline for Anthropic to accept its new contract terms. The company declined to do so.