The Trump administration’s blacklisting of Anthropic was illegal, rules rule
The Trump administration acted illegally when it labeled artificial intelligence startup Anthropic a security risk and barred the company from working with the U.S. government, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
In her 59-page ruling, Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California wrote that the government unlawfully infringed on “constitutionally protected expressive activities” against Anthropica after the AI company spoke out about how its technology should be used.
“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” she wrote.
In a statement, Anthropic said, “We welcome the court’s decision that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful. We remain focused on working productively with the government to leverage artificial intelligence for our national security so that all Americans can benefit from this technology.”
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision concludes the first of two lawsuits Anthropic filed on March 9 in response to the Trump administration’s action. A second lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is pending. The Trump administration could appeal Judge Lin’s ruling or wait for a decision in a second lawsuit before acting, a person familiar with the matter said.
The California ruling is the latest chapter in the battle between the Trump administration and Anthropic as it heads toward what may be the largest initial public offering.
Earlier this year, the two sides clashed over a $200 million contract to provide the Pentagon with AI technology on classified systems. Anthropic, which is based in San Francisco, has insisted that its technology must not be used for mass surveillance of Americans or for autonomous lethal weapons. The Pentagon said a private company cannot set policy for the US government.
The two sides could not come to an agreement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then announced that Anthropic was a “supply chain risk,” a formal designation previously used against foreign companies deemed by the government to be a national security risk. The designation meant that no contractor or supplier that works with the military could do business with Anthropic.
Anthropic’s lawsuits argued that supply chain risk designation laws were narrow and did not apply to U.S. firms. The company also said the labeling was ideologically motivated to penalize Anthropic and that the company’s First Amendment rights were violated.
Before her ruling, Judge Lin said the Pentagon’s argument that Anthropic’s public criticism of the government justifies preventing the AI company from doing federal work was “truly troubling.” She also said she saw no evidence for the government’s claim that Anthropic could “switch on some kind of kill” and potentially disable or alter its AI models during the war.
In her final ruling Thursday, Judge Lin said the Trump administration had backed away from many of its central claims that Anthropic could sabotage its own technology. She wrote that the government’s decision to ban Anthropic boiled down to “a desire to make a public example of Anthropic for his ‘arrogance’ in criticizing the government.”
She added that the Trump administration’s ongoing talks with Anthropic about its new Mythos AI model showed the company did not pose a national threat.
In June, the Trump administration told Anthropic to limit its clients’ access to Mythos, citing national security concerns. After two weeks of negotiations, the government allowed Anthropic to restore access to most clients after adding certain safeguards.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick thanked Anthropic at the time, adding that the company was committed to working with the government on protocols for future releases of AI models.