A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday granted Anthropic temporary relief, blocking a Pentagon designation that had labeled the company a “supply chain risk to national security.” The injunction will take effect in seven days, a pause intended to give the government time to appeal.
Judge Rita Lin wrote that while the government is free to decide not to use Anthropic’s products, the designation appeared aimed at punishing the company for criticizing the administration — a step she said would implicate First Amendment protections. She described the designation as likely unlawful and arbitrary.
The dispute centers on safety limits in Anthropic’s AI model, Claude. Anthropic has resisted allowing the Department of Defense to deploy Claude for certain war-gaming uses and refused requests to permit its technology to be used for mass surveillance of Americans or for autonomous weapons.
President Donald Trump responded to Anthropic’s stance by publicly labeling the firm a supply-chain risk and ordering federal agencies to stop new contracts with the company. That designation also requires defense vendors and contractors to certify they are not using Anthropic models in government work.
Anthropic’s leadership said it had no legal choice but to challenge the move. CEO Dario Amodei previously said the company viewed the designation as legally unsound and felt compelled to seek court review. An Anthropic spokesperson welcomed the court’s swift action and said the company remains focused on cooperating with government partners to advance safe, reliable AI for all Americans.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharply criticized Anthropic’s refusal to cooperate, posting on X that the company had shown “a master class in arrogance and betrayal” and calling the situation a “textbook case” of how not to work with the U.S. government.
Prior to the disagreement, Anthropic was reportedly the only AI firm cleared for confidential military use. After the public dispute, OpenAI reached its own agreement with the Department of Defense.
The injunction does not resolve the underlying legal fight but temporarily blocks the Pentagon’s restriction while the courts consider the matter further.