SAN FRANCISCO, United States: A US federal judge on Friday suspended sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump´s administration on Anthropic, saying the measures likely violated the law in blacklisting the AI powerhouse for expressing unease about the Pentagon´s use of its technology.
In the northern district of California, Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic´s request for a preliminary injunction in its suit against the government, freezing a presidential order that barred all federal agencies from using Anthropic technology.
The ruling also suspends a Pentagon designation of Anthropic, creator of the Claude AI model, as a national security supply chain risk -- a label typically reserved for organisations from unfriendly foreign countries.
The designation not only blocks use of the company´s technology by the Pentagon, but also requires all defense vendors and contractors to certify that they do not use Anthropic´s models in their work with the department.
“We´re grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits,” a company spokesperson said.
“While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI.”
The dispute erupted last month after Anthropic infuriated Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth by insisting its technology should not be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons systems.
Hegseth said on X that Anthropic had “delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon.”
