A US court has ruled that the Department of Defense acted unlawfully in its actions against the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. This was reported by infohub.kz.
According to Judge Rita Lin's decision, the Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk was "illegal and baseless." The company argued in its lawsuit that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority with this designation. This followed Anthropic's refusal to allow the military to use its AI models for purposes including surveillance and autonomous weapons.
District Judge Rita Lin noted in her ruling that citing national security "is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics." Anthropic welcomed the decision. The BBC has contacted the Pentagon and the White House for comment.
An Anthropic spokesperson said the company is focused on "working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology."
Judge Lin stated in the court filing that the Defense Department had acted unlawfully in ordering companies that do business with the US military to boycott Anthropic. The Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk in February — a law typically reserved for companies based in countries that pose a threat to the US. This marked the first time an American company had been publicly designated as such.
Anthropic's lawsuit said the government's actions were both "unprecedented and unlawful." The maker of the Claude model stated that its models were not reliable enough to be safely used in weapons systems for the military, and that it opposed their use for domestic surveillance as a violation of rights. The Pentagon said at the time that private companies should not be able to constrain military action. The White House had previously called Anthropic "a radical left, woke company" attempting to control military activity, arguing that the military is beholden to the US Constitution, "not any woke AI company's terms of service."
The Pentagon also argued that Anthropic's refusal to accept new contract terms raised concerns about what the company could do with its technology. Anthropic said in its lawsuit that its business had been impacted by the government's actions and its right to freedom of speech had been violated.
Judge Lin said during an earlier round in the lawsuit that the government was trying to "cripple" the company and "chill public debate" over military use of AI. "This appears to be classic First Amendment retaliation," the judge added.