Judge Strikes Down Trump Order on AI Firm

A US federal court has declared the Pentagon's designation of AI company Anthropic as a supply chain risk to be unlawful. US District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Department of Defense's restrictions on Anthropic and its Claude model were "illegal and baseless." Consequently, the judge has prohibited certain federal agencies from enforcing an order issued by President Trump that aimed to halt the use of Anthropic's services.

Judge Lin's decision stated that national security claims were insufficient grounds for penalizing government critics. Anthropic welcomed the ruling, emphasizing its focus on working with the government to leverage AI for national security. The dispute originated in late February when the Department of Defense sought to remove safeguards from Anthropic's AI systems, a request the company refused regarding sensitive applications like mass surveillance or autonomous weapons.

In response to the company's refusal, President Trump ordered all US government agencies to phase out the use of Claude and other Anthropic services. Following collapsed negotiations, Anthropic became the first US company to be designated a supply chain risk. The company subsequently sued, and this ruling represents a significant victory on one of its legal counts, though a second decision is still pending.