{"id":2116473,"date":"2026-08-28T14:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2116473"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:04:38","slug":"judge-says-the-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic-is-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2116473","title":{"rendered":"Judge Says the Pentagon\u2019s Blacklisting of Anthropic Is Illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/anthropic-pentagon-judgement-1200×675.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Anthropic just scored a major win in its fight against President Donald Trump\u2019s administration over efforts to blacklist the AI company.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled Thursday in Anthropic\u2019s lawsuit against the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and several other federal agencies over the administration\u2019s decision to designate the company a national security supply-chain risk. This followed a dispute between the company and the government over how Anthropic\u2019s AI technology could be used in classified military settings.<\/p>\n

Lin wrote in her 59-page ruling that the government\u2019s actions \u201cconstituted unlawful retaliation\u201d in violation of Anthropic\u2019s First Amendment rights and denied the company due process required under the Fifth Amendment.<\/p>\n

The judge acknowledged that the government has the right to weigh in on national security concerns. But she said its actions showed the move was \u201cbased on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its \u2018arrogance\u2019 in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Anthropic, then the only major AI company working with the Pentagon on classified systems, reportedly hit a wall in negotiations with the DoD after officials pushed for language\u00a0allowing Anthropic\u2019s technology to be used for \u201cany lawful purpose.\u201d The biggest sticking points involved potential uses tied to domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons systems.<\/p>\n

After those talks fell apart, the Trump administration designated the company as a supply chain risk, a label typically used for foreign companies considered a potential threat to national security.<\/p>\n

Anthropic responded by filing two lawsuits challenging the administration\u2019s actions. The second case is still ongoing in federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

In Thursday\u2019s ruling, Lin found that the government had not provided sufficient evidence that Anthropic actually posed a national security threat.<\/p>\n

She also pointed out that even after labeling Anthropic a security risk, government officials continued talking with the company about working together.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump himself even said in April that his administration has had \u201csome very good talks\u201d with Anthropic and suggested a future agreement\u00a0restoring the company\u2019s access to Pentagon work could still be \u201cpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, the government ordered Anthropic in June to restrict foreign nationals\u2019 access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models over cybersecurity concerns, prompting the company to temporarily shut off access for everyone. The restrictions were lifted later that month. Anthropic eventually restored access to the models with updated safeguards.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that is consistent with a genuine fear that Anthropic is a saboteur who would poison its software to harm national security,\u201d wrote Lin.<\/p>\n

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a spokesperson told The New York Times, \u201cWe welcome the court\u2019s ruling that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful. We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness A.I. for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

Anthropic just scored a major win in its fight against President Donald Trump\u2019s administration over efforts to blacklist the AI company.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled Thursday in Anthropic\u2019s lawsuit against the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and several other federal agencies over the administration\u2019s decision to designate the company a national security supply-chain risk. This followed a dispute between the company and the government over how Anthropic\u2019s AI technology could be used in classified military settings.<\/p>\n

Lin wrote in her 59-page ruling that the government\u2019s actions \u201cconstituted unlawful retaliation\u201d in violation of Anthropic\u2019s First Amendment rights and denied the company due process required under the Fifth Amendment.<\/p>\n

The judge acknowledged that the government has the right to weigh in on national security concerns. But she said its actions showed the move was \u201cbased on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its \u2018arrogance\u2019 in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Anthropic, then the only major AI company working with the Pentagon on classified systems, reportedly hit a wall in negotiations with the DoD after officials pushed for language\u00a0allowing Anthropic\u2019s technology to be used for \u201cany lawful purpose.\u201d The biggest sticking points involved potential uses tied to domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons systems.<\/p>\n

After those talks fell apart, the Trump administration designated the company as a supply chain risk, a label typically used for foreign companies considered a potential threat to national security.<\/p>\n

Anthropic responded by filing two lawsuits challenging the administration\u2019s actions. The second case is still ongoing in federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

In Thursday\u2019s ruling, Lin found that the government had not provided sufficient evidence that Anthropic actually posed a national security threat.<\/p>\n

She also pointed out that even after labeling Anthropic a security risk, government officials continued talking with the company about working together.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump himself even said in April that his administration has had \u201csome very good talks\u201d with Anthropic and suggested a future agreement\u00a0restoring the company\u2019s access to Pentagon work could still be \u201cpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, the government ordered Anthropic in June to restrict foreign nationals\u2019 access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models over cybersecurity concerns, prompting the company to temporarily shut off access for everyone. The restrictions were lifted later that month. Anthropic eventually restored access to the models with updated safeguards.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that is consistent with a genuine fear that Anthropic is a saboteur who would poison its software to harm national security,\u201d wrote Lin.<\/p>\n

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a spokesperson told The New York Times, \u201cWe welcome the court\u2019s ruling that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful. We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness A.I. for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/anthropic-pentagon-judgement-1200×675.jpg”] Anthropic just scored a major win in its fight against President Donald Trump\u2019s administration over efforts to blacklist the AI company. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled Thursday in Anthropic\u2019s lawsuit against the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and several other federal agencies over the administration\u2019s decision to designate the company a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-2116473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2116473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2116473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2116473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2116473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}