A federal judge ruled that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's labeling of Anthropic as a national security risk was "unlawful retaliation" in violation of the First Amendment, calling the decision "arbitrary and capricious." Judge Lin also found that Anthropic was denied due process under the Fifth Amendment.
The dispute arose from Anthropic refusing to remove safety guardrails that would allow the Pentagon to use its Claude models for fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens. Judge Lin noted contradictions in the government's position, pointing out that while labeling Anthropic a supply-chain risk, the Pentagon continued pursuing a contract with the company and collaborated with Anthropic's new model Mythos for cybersecurity.
Lin concluded that "the empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics." She emphasized that Anthropic "undisputedly lacks" any backdoor access to its technology once delivered to the DOD. Anthropic filed complaints in March in California and D.C.; the D.C. suit remains ongoing.