Judge Rules Pentagon's Anthropic Blacklist Unconstitutional
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- Judge Rita F. Lin ruled Thursday that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was unconstitutional, writing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's 'supply chain risk' designation was 'arbitrary and capricious' and 'unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.'
- Anthropic filed suit in March in a California district court after being blacklisted for setting two red lines: refusing to allow its AI to power mass surveillance of Americans or lethal autonomous weapons without human oversight.
- Hegseth had sought to renegotiate all AI labs' Pentagon contracts earlier this year so the military could use AI for 'any lawful use'; Anthropic was the holdout, with CEO Dario Amodei publicly declaring less than 24 hours before the administration's ultimatum that the company wouldn't budge.
- The Pentagon responded by naming Anthropic a 'supply chain risk' — a classification typically reserved for national security threats — and signed replacement deals with seven other AI labs, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and SpaceX.
- Judge Lin had already temporarily blocked the blacklist in March, writing that records showed Anthropic was designated a supply chain risk because of its 'hostile manner through the press,' adding that 'punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government's contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.'
- Anthropic spokesperson Danielle Ghiglieri welcomed the final ruling Thursday, saying the company 'remains focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.'
Why it matters: Anthropic's standoff turned on two concrete red lines — mass surveillance of Americans and lethal autonomous weapons — and the court's ruling now formally vindicates that refusal. The Pentagon's replacement contracts with Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and SpaceX lock those labs into a broader military-use posture that Anthropic declined, making the court win a substantive policy victory, not just a procedural one.
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