A US federal judge ruled on August 27 that the Pentagon’s designation of AI company Anthropic as a national security supply chain risk is unlawful and lacks basis, permanently blocking related sanctions imposed under the Trump administration [1, 2, 3]. The 59-page ruling declared the government’s punishment violated the First Amendment by targeting Anthropic for publicly criticizing military AI policy [4, 2, 5]. Judge Rita Lin wrote, “The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics” [2].
The court made permanent a temporary injunction from March 2026 that suspended enforcement of the Trump-era order restricting the military’s use of Anthropic’s AI tools including the chatbot Claude [4, 6, 3]. Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth had labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk after the company rejected contract terms requiring its AI be used in fully autonomous lethal weapons or domestic surveillance, citing concerns over AI reliability and human rights [4, 1, 6]. This was the first time a US company received such a designation publicly [5].
Anthropic’s refusal to accept those military contract terms drew criticism from former President Trump, who in February called Anthropic a "radical left woke company" and accused it of trying to control military actions through its service terms [6, 2]. Meanwhile, the Justice Department stated Anthropic’s stance generated uncertainty and operational risks for military use of Claude [1]. Another Pentagon supply chain risk designation against Anthropic for non-military contracts remains under litigation [5, 3].
Anthropic welcomed the ruling, with a spokesperson saying, “We welcome the court’s ruling that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful” and emphasizing their intent to continue cooperation with government AI efforts for national security [6, 2].
The ruling takes effect immediately. The government may appeal the decision.
