Anthropic Wins Court Fight Against Pentagon Blacklisting Over AI Safety

A US judge has blocked the Pentagon’s designation of artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, delivering a major legal victory to the Claude chatbot maker in its dispute with the US military over the use of AI.

US District Judge Rita F Lin in San Francisco ruled late on Thursday that the government had not adequately justified its decision to blacklist Anthropic, as per a report by Bloomberg (BBG).

Lin said the government was entitled to deference on national security matters, but found that the record indicated the designation was driven by a desire to retaliate against Anthropic for criticising the government rather than evidence that the company could sabotage its AI model, as per the report.

Lin described the Pentagon’s action as “illegal and baseless”, as per a report by Reuters. “The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Lin wrote.

Dispute Over Military Use Of AI

The Pentagon designated Anthropic a national security supply-chain risk after negotiations over the military’s use of Claude broke down.

The move followed Anthropic’s refusal to allow its models to be used for mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous weapons.

Anthropic has argued that current AI models are not reliable enough for autonomous weapons and that domestic surveillance would violate individual rights.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, has maintained that private companies should not be able to impose restrictions on military operations, as per Reuters.

Anthropic had warned that the designation could cost it billions of dollars in lost business and reputational damage. The company sued the government, arguing that the move amounted to unlawful retaliation and violated its constitutional rights, including protections for free speech and due process.

Anthropic welcomed the ruling of the court in the case. “We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology,” the company said in a statement, as per Reuters.

Pentagon Can Still Switch AI Providers

According to the BBG report, the ruling does not require the Department of War to continue using Anthropic’s products or prevent it from moving to other AI providers, provided such actions comply with applicable laws and regulations.

The Pentagon had also continued winding down its use of Anthropic products and intended to complete that process by September 30, according to a government lawyer, the report said.

The case is one of two legal challenges brought by Anthropic over the supply-chain risk designations. A separate case concerning potential exclusion from civilian government contracts remains pending in Washington, DC, as per Reuters.