US judge blocks Pentagon blacklisting of AI firm Anthropic

By Al Jazeera Staff, AP and Reuters. Published On 28 Aug 202628 Aug 2026.

Key points

• Anthropic's lawsuit in a California federal court alleges that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority when he designated the firm a national security supply-chain risk.
• A United States judge has blocked the Pentagon's blacklisting of technology firm Anthropic.
• "The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics, " Lin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote.
• During a hearing on July 30, Lin described the government's position as really troubling and at odds.
• The decision marks the latest turn in the Claude maker's high-stakes fight with the US military over artificial intelligence safety on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, a United States judge has blocked the Pentagon's blacklisting of technology firm Anthropic.

In a 59-page written order issued on Thursday night, District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Department of Defense had acted illegally when it designated the firm a supply chain risk to national security.

Meanwhile, the decision marks the latest turn in the Claude maker's high-stakes fight with the US military over artificial intelligence safety on the battlefield. The administration is anticipated to fight the ruling.

Notably, the judge's order rebuked the Pentagon, saying it had targeted and punished Anthropic for the company's public criticism of the Defense Department's stance on AI deployment on the battlefield.

"The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics, " Lin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote. Autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance.

Hegseth's move, which blocked Anthropic from military contracts, followed the company's refusal to allow the military to employ its Claude AI models for US surveillance or autonomous weapons.

Anthropic argues that AI models are not reliable enough for autonomous weapons and opposes domestic surveillance. The Pentagon maintains that private firms should not constrain military action.

Executives have remarked the ban could cost the business billions of dollars in lost business.

During a hearing on July 30, Lin described the government's position as "really troubling" and "at odds. With the First Amendment", adding that the record had "gotten worse for the government" over time.

In the same hearing, Department of Justice lawyers argued that the nature of AI models is "so staggeringly enormous and opaque" that the Pentagon cannot evaluate them like physical hardware. First employ of obscure statute.

Anthropic welcomed the ruling, stating it remained "focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology".

Notably, the designation was the first time a US firm has been publicly labelled a supply-chain risk under an obscure procurement statute aimed at protecting military systems from foreign sabotage.

In its lawsuit, Anthropic alleged the administration violated its constitutional rights to free speech and due process by retaliating against its views on AI safety without allowing it to dispute the claim.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit called the decision unlawful, unsupported by facts, and inconsistent with the military's past praise of Claude. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon on the ruling.

Taken together, the developments around US judge blocks Pentagon blacklisting of AI firm Anthropic point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.