Federal judge strikes down Pentagon blacklist of Anthropic as illegal retaliation
A federal judge has ruled that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic, the company behind Claude, was illegal retaliation and violated Anthropic's First Amendment rights. The designation followed Anthropic's refusal to let Claude be used for mass surveillance of Americans or fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon is expected to appeal.
A federal judge in San Francisco has struck down the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI models, ruling the designation was illegal retaliation. The dispute began after the Defense Department wanted to use Claude for any lawful government purpose, including sensitive military and intelligence applications, while Anthropic insisted mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons stay off-limits. Judge Rita Lin found the Pentagon violated Anthropic's First Amendment rights, ruling that citing national security does not give the government free rein to punish and retaliate against its critics. The Pentagon is expected to appeal, and Anthropic is separately fighting a related Pentagon designation in a different federal court.