US court rules Pentagon ban of Anthropic unlawful
“A United States federal judge ruled Thursday that sanctionsimposed in Februaryby the Trump administration against AI giant Anthropic were illegal, finding that the government had punished the artifici…”
"The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics," Judge Rita Lin said in a 59-page decision seen byAFP.She barred the federal agencies named in the lawsuit from enforcing President Donald Trump's order to stop using the tools of Anthropic - creator of the Claude AI models - and overturned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's designation of the company as a "supply chain risk," a status previously reserved for foreign firms.
The ruling makes permanent the temporary suspension of sanctions ordered by the judge in March and takes effect immediately. The government may appeal. Read:China issues 'backdoor' security alert over Anthropic's Claude Code"We welcome the court's ruling that this supply chain risk designation wasunlawful," an Anthropic spokesperson said Thursday.
"We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology. "The conflict arose after Anthropic refused to allow the US military to use Claude for fully autonomous lethal weapons or for the mass surveillance of Americans.
"Stay connected with Aman-e-Pakistan for ongoing live reporting and verified investigative updates."
Trump had lashed out at the company when it took that step. In a February social media post, he called it "a radical left, woke company" and "out-of-control.
"In Thursday's ruling, the judge said that the sanctions against the company "were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its 'arrogance' in criticising the government" rather than to counter a genuine threat. The military had been using Claude across a range of classified and sensitive systems.
Journaland. Axios, that included during the January operation thatcaptured Venezuelan leader. Nicolas Maduro.
Read More:Major tech companies call for defensive surge to defeat AI-driven hacks. The supply chain risk designation, formally made in March, had canceled Anthropic's military contracts and barred other Pentagon contractors from using its technology.
However, Anthropic's victory is not total. A second sanction imposed by the Pentagon on the same day, based on public procurement regulations, remains in effect pending a court ruling in Washington, where a judge refused to suspend the measure in April.
The White House has also bristled at Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's repeated warnings about thedangers of AI- including the impact on jobs. Anthropic is expected within weeks to make a public stock market listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June, which raised $86.2 billion.
Written by Madiha Imam
Aman-e-Pakistan Senior Journalist & Bureau Reporter
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