US judge blocks Trump admin's Anthropic sanctions, calls them unlawful

President Donald Trump listens as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a cabinet meeting. (AP Photo) A US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully in targeting AI firm Anthropic after it resisted certain military uses of its models, saying national security cannot be used to justify retaliation against government critics.US District Judge Rita Lin said the government’s decision to designate Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” was unlawful and violated the company’s constitutional rights, according to the BBC.“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Lin said in her 59-page ruling.The ruling blocks federal agencies named in Anthropic’s lawsuit from enforcing President Donald Trump’s directive restricting the use of the company’s Claude AI tools.It also overturns former Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to classify Anthropic as a supply-chain risk — a designation generally used against companies linked to countries considered security threats.The decision makes permanent an earlier temporary suspension of the sanctions and takes effect immediately. The administration ca...