US Judge Blocks Pentagon Blacklist of AI Firm Anthropic
A US judge permanently blocked the Pentagon's supply-chain risk designation against Anthropic, ending a dispute over AI safety guardrails and military use.
A US federal judge has permanently blocked the Pentagon's "supply-chain risk" designation against Anthropic, bringing a months-long standoff over military access to the company's frontier AI models to a close.
The conflict began in late January when the Pentagon pressed Anthropic to remove safety guardrails from its Claude AI system. The demand escalated into a blacklisting, triggering lawsuits and federal agency bans, even as government bodies continued using the company's tools.
Here is a timeline of the dispute:
January 29: The Pentagon and Anthropic clash over eliminating safeguards that could allow the government to use the technology for autonomous weapons targeting and domestic surveillance.
February 23-26: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summons CEO Dario Amodei for talks. The Pentagon warns of consequences, including a supply-chain risk label, and asks contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin to assess their reliance on Anthropic. A deadline is set for unrestricted military use, which Anthropic refuses.
February 27: President Donald Trump directs all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic's technology. Hegseth directs the DoD to designate the company a supply-chain risk. Anthropic announces it will challenge the decision in court.
March 2-5: Several federal departments move to stop using Claude. Lockheed Martin pledges to follow the DoD's direction. The DoD formally designates Anthropic as a supply-chain risk.
March 6-12: The General Services Administration terminates Anthropic's OneGov deal. Anthropic sues, citing free speech and due process violations, and warns of billions in lost 2026 revenue. Microsoft backs the lawsuit. The Pentagon says tools may continue if critical to national security, while its CTO rules out negotiations.
March 17-26: The administration argues Anthropic is unlikely to prevail on First Amendment claims. Judge Rita Lin says the blacklisting "looks like an attempt to cripple Anthropic" for raising AI safety concerns, and ultimately blocks the designation permanently.