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Fri, 28 Aug 2026

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, judge rules

The AI startup has been at loggerheads with the Pentagon over the use of AI by the US military.

* A US judge has ruled that the Department of Defense acted unlawfully by designating AI startup Anthropic as a supply chain risk.
* The company was cited as a national security threat after it refused to allow its AI models to be used for surveillance or autonomous weapons.
* Judge Rita Lin said that citing national security is not a "blank check" to punish and retaliate against government critics.
* Anthropic welcomed the ruling, saying it looks forward to working with the government on harnessing AI for national security benefits.
* The Pentagon had argued that private companies should not be able to constrain military action, but Judge Lin said the government's actions were both unprecedented and unlawful.
* The White House previously described Anthropic as a "radical left, woke company" attempting to control military activity.