US court backs Anthropic over Pentagon

The company was branded a “supply-chain risk” after refusing demands to drop safeguards on military AI use A US court has struck down the Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic, ruling that it illegally sanctioned the AI developer for refusing to let its Claude model be used for certain military operations.In a 59-page ruling issued on Thursday, US District Judge Rita Lin said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority by designating Anthropic a “supply-chain risk to national security.” She also argued that the move amounted to unlawful retaliation under the First Amendment and deprived Anthropic of due process under the Fifth. “The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” she wrote.Lin said the government had sought to make a public example of Anthropic for its “arrogance” in criticizing Washington, adding that Hegseth’s supply-chain designation violated the statute invoked by the Pentagon and was “arbitrary and capricious.” The dispute grew out of the Pentagon’s push to provide the military with access to AI models for “any lawful use.” Before the standoff, Anthropic had been deeply involved with th...