US Judge Flags Pentagon Blacklisting of Anthropic as Possible Retaliation
Court hearing highlights claims that the AI lab was punished for raising safety concerns over military use of its technology, as a ruling on a temporary block is pending.
Staff WriterMar 25, 2026, 9:24 AMA US judge said that the Pentagon's blacklisting of AI lab Anthropic appears to be an effort to punish the company for publicly voicing concerns about artificial intelligence safety in military applications.
Anthropic’s lawsuit in California federal court alleges that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth exceeded his authority by designating Anthropic a national security supply-chain risk. This label can be applied to companies deemed to pose potential threats to military systems through infiltration or sabotage.
US District Judge Rita Lin, a Biden appointee, said during the hearing in San Francisco that the designation “looks like an attempt to cripple Anthropic.” She added that it “appears the Department of War is punishing Anthropic for trying to bring public scrutiny to this contract dispute,” using an acronym for the Pentagon that former President Donald Trump had suggested.
The hearing focused on Anthropic's request for a temporary order to block the designation while the case proceeds. Lin indicated she would issue a written ruling in the coming days.
The unprecedented designation followed Anthropic’s refusal to let the military use its Claude AI software for US surveillance or autonomous weapons. The company warned that AI models are not reliable enough for such uses and stated its opposition to domestic surveillance on rights grounds. Anthropic executives said the move could cost the company billions of dollars in lost contracts and damage its reputation.
This was the first public use of a supply-chain risk designation against a US company under a little-known government-procurement statute aimed at safeguarding military systems from sabotage.
Anthropic claims the government violated its First Amendment right to free speech and denied it due process under the Fifth Amendment. Its lawyer argued the Pentagon misinterpreted procurement law to retaliate against the company’s negotiating stance.
“The logical implication is that the government can use contract frustrations to label a company a national security risk simply because it disagrees with the vendor,” said attorney Michael Mongan.
Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton countered that Anthropic’s restrictions on its technology made it unreliable for military use, justifying the designation. “If Anthropic could, through an update, alter the software when our warfighters need it most, that’s an unacceptable risk,” he said.
Anthropic also has a second lawsuit pending in Washington, D.C., over a separate Pentagon designation that could exclude the company from civilian government contracts.
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