“Classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.” That is how U.S. District Judge Rita Lin described the Pentagon’s move against Anthropic in an order issued Thursday, March 26, that temporarily blocks the Defense Department from labeling the AI company a “supply-chain risk to national security.”
Lin also blocked enforcement of President Trump’s social media directive ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic and its chatbot, Claude. Her order is delayed for a week, giving the administration time to appeal. It does not require the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s products, and it does not stop the department from moving to other AI providers.
The judge’s reasoning
“The record supports an inference that Anthropic is being punished for criticizing the government’s contracting position in the press,” Lin wrote. In her view, the measures taken by the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared arbitrary and capricious and could “cripple Anthropic.” She singled out Hegseth’s use of a rare military authority previously aimed at foreign adversaries.
She also rejected the idea that the company might sabotage the military. “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government,” she wrote.
Lin said the Pentagon keeps wide latitude over its own purchasing. “It is the Department of War’s prerogative to decide what AI product it uses,” she wrote. “Everyone, including Anthropic, agrees that the Department of War may permissibly stop using Claude and look for a new AI vendor who will allow ‘all lawful uses’ of its technology. That is not what this case is about. The question here is whether the government violated the law when it went further.”
If the worry is the integrity of the chain of command, she wrote, the department “could just stop using Claude. Instead, these measures appear designed to punish Anthropic.”
How the dispute began
Last month, Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s products, and Hegseth designated the company a supply chain risk. The dispute grew out of failed negotiations over a defense contract. Anthropic said its AI should not be used for fully autonomous weapons, meaning AI rather than humans making final battlefield targeting decisions, or for mass domestic surveillance. The Pentagon argued it should be able to use Claude in any way it deems lawful.
Anthropic sued earlier this month, alleging an “unlawful campaign of retaliation.” Lin’s ruling followed a 90-minute hearing in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, where she asked why the administration took such an extraordinary step. She said her decision was not about the policy debate but about the government’s response to it.
Microsoft, industry trade groups, tech workers, retired U.S. military leaders and a group of Catholic theologians filed briefs supporting Anthropic. The company has a separate, narrower case pending in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., over a different rule the Pentagon is using to try to declare it a supply chain risk.
In a statement, an Anthropic spokesperson said the company was “grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits.” The spokesperson added that the focus “remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI.” The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
Sources
- Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon's 'supply chain risk' designation for Anthropic
- SF federal judge temporarily blocks Pentagon's 'supply-chain risk' designation for Anthropic
