Federal Judge Rules Pentagon Illegally Retaliated Against Anthropic

<figure><img alt="Pete Hegseth" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/6U5W7CWP4FFDPPLQ72WESPHF44.JPG?auth=100b245942ede6c96242bbca8ad4b5125c87d2c6645d240324ece7f935a93472&amp;smart=true&amp;width=5500&amp;height=3094" /><figcaption>Elizabeth Frantz / REUTERS</figcaption></figure><p>A federal judge has ruled that the Defense Department illegally retaliated against Anthropic and attempted to publicly penalize the AI company for its criticisms of the government.</p><p>Earlier this year, the Trump administration labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk after the company declined to allow the Pentagon to use its AI models for mass surveillance or the development of autonomous weapon systems.</p><p>This designation, typically reserved for foreign adversaries, prohibited the Pentagon from utilizing Anthropic’s models and mandated that all military contractors certify they did not use Anthropic tools.</p><img alt="Dario Amodei's Anthropic said its AI models weren't reliable enough to be used to develop autonomous weapons. / Anadolu via Getty Images" height="2326" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/OA5VJL436JGTZNKNCALGIUXZYE.jpg?auth=f6f8d4db63ed5d757be138ec2ff44d5cc89600d453d6d7d5355b644658c8fb2a&amp;smart=true&amp;width=3543&amp;height=2326" width="3543" /><p>The company filed two lawsuits in March, claiming the label was “unprecedented and unlawful,” while the Pentagon argued that private companies should not be able to restrict military operations.</p><p>Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court in Northern California ruled in favor of Anthropic, stating that the government’s blacklisting violated the company’s First Amendment and due process rights.</p><p>“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Judge Lin wrote. She noted that the government’s actions were motivated by a desire to publicly penalize Anthropic for its criticisms.</p><img alt="President Trump accused Anthropic of being a “RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY.” / Kevin Lamarque/Reuters" height="3668" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/C7OO53DX6RHOPGQSZSYKP4EGYU.JPG?auth=b549f55e6b0a54c18474d2456c256dfddd5ec20ba6a3205025c580c43dc07859&amp;smart=true&amp;width=5500&amp;height=3668" width="5500" /><p>Despite the supply chain risk designation, other government departments continued to use Anthropic tools, which undermined the administration’s claims regarding national security concerns, according to Judge Lin.</p><p>This ruling followed a preliminary order from Lin blocking the supply chain risk designation, which she previously described as “likely both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”</p><p>In response to the ruling, Anthropic stated that it “welcomed the court’s ruling” and expressed its intention to work collaboratively with the government to utilize AI for national security.</p><p>The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.</p><video id="oqNFfuY5" poster="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oqNFfuY5/poster.jpg"><source src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/oqNFfuY5.mp4" type="video/mp4" /></video><p>Previously, Anthropic held a $200 million contract with the Pentagon, and as of February, its Claude LLM was the only AI model available in the military’s classified systems, according to Axios.</p><p>After Anthropic refused to grant the military unrestricted access to its models, Hegseth met with CEO Dario Amodei to issue an ultimatum.</p><p>Trump also criticized Anthropic in a social media post, labeling it a “RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY” attempting to dictate military operations.</p><p>Amodei subsequently informed his employees that the administration’s discontent with Anthropic stemmed from the company not donating significant funds or providing favorable praise to Trump, unlike competitor OpenAI.</p><p>OpenAI secured a deal for the Pentagon to use its AI tools shortly after Anthropic was designated a supply chain risk.</p><p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/pete-hegseth-suffers-embarrassing-defeat-in-anthropic-legal-battle/">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p>