Judge: Trump admin lacks evidence in Anthropic risk case
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- Judge Rita Lin said at a Thursday hearing that the Trump administration has not presented enough evidence to justify labeling Anthropic a supply-chain risk and blocking federal use of the company's technology.
- Anthropic refused to allow its AI to be used for mass surveillance of Americans or for targeting and firing decisions in lethal weapons, arguing the technology wasn't ready, while the Pentagon countered that a private company shouldn't dictate how the military uses technologies.
- Lin called the government's argument that Anthropic's public criticism of DOD justifies the ban "really troubling," warning it could set a precedent of retaliating against federal contractors who disagree with the administration.
- The DOD claimed Anthropic could disable or alter its AI models during warfighting operations, but Lin said she saw no proof Anthropic could alter a delivered model or "flip some kind of kill switch."
- Anthropic filed two lawsuits against the DOD in March challenging the ban and risk designation; Lin temporarily blocked the ban in March and is now weighing whether to make that order permanent.
Why it matters: Judge Lin's finding that the government lacks evidence undercuts the Pentagon's case in a procurement fight where it sought to bar federal use of Anthropic's tools. Her warning that punishing contractors for public criticism could set a precedent limits how procurement power can be wielded against companies that publicly challenge administration policy.
