Anthropic has won its first court fight with the Pentagon over access to government work. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled Thursday that the Trump administration’s designation of the AI lab as a supply-chain risk was illegal, calling it retaliation for Anthropic’s public criticism of military AI policy.
The clash dates to fall 2025, when the Pentagon pushed Anthropic to drop contract language barring mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous weapons. Anthropic held its ground. Trump responded by ordering federal agencies off its models, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s supply-chain designation then cut off defense contractors too.
Judge Lin said the government’s “words and deeds confirm that the challenged actions were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its ‘arrogance’ in criticizing the government.” She flagged contradictions in the official posture: the Pentagon kept pursuing a contract with the company and had floated applying the Defense Production Act to it, a step normally reserved for firms essential to national security.
Anthropic sued in March in California and Washington, D.C. The D.C. case remains pending, and the judge there must also rule in the company’s favor before the ban is fully lifted. Anthropic welcomed the decision and said it remains focused on working productively with the government on national security AI.
