A US federal judge on Thursday ruled that sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on AI firm Anthropic were illegal. The court found that the Pentagon's February order against the artificial intelligence company was meant to punish it for publicly criticising the government.
"The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics," news agency AFP cited Judge Rita Lin's observation from her 59-page decision.
Vacating the company's 'supply-chain risk' designation, the judge ruled that the Department of Defense's actions violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The court directed the Department of Defense to revoke all guidance, directives, communications or instructions issued against Anthropic.
What is Pentagon vs Anthropic about
In February this year, the Pentagon blacklisted Claude maker Anthropic which has been engaged in a tussle with the military over AI safety on the battlefield. The AI firm was designated a national security supply-chain risk, a tag given to companies which may expose military systems to potential infiltration or sabotage by adversaries.
This ban came after Anthropic refused to allow the military to use AI chatbot Claude for US surveillance or autonomous weapons. The decision also blocked Anthropic from certain military contracts.
{{/usCountry}}This ban came after Anthropic refused to allow the military to use AI chatbot Claude for US surveillance or autonomous weapons. The decision also blocked Anthropic from certain military contracts.
{{/usCountry}}Anthropic has alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority with the ban. The company's lawsuit in California federal court further said the move to block military contracts could cost the company billions of dollars in lost business and reputational harm.
Anthropic says that AI models are not reliable enough to be safely used in autonomous weapons and that it opposes domestic surveillance as a violation of rights, but the Pentagon says private companies should not be able to constrain military action.
Anthropic first company to be publicly designated supply-chain risk
Anthropic became the first US company to be publicly designated a supply-chain risk under an obscure government-procurement statute aimed at protecting military systems from foreign sabotage.
The artificial intelligence firms has a second lawsuit pending in Washington, DC, over a separate Pentagon supply-chain risk designation which could lead to its exclusion from civilian government contracts.