On March 26, 2026, a federal judge in San Francisco granted Anthropic a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense, after actions taken under the administration of President Donald Trump on its AI technology across federal agencies.
The case concerns Anthropic’s view that its artificial intelligence product, Claude, “is not ready for safe use in fully autonomous lethal weapons or the mass surveillance of Americans.”
Anthropic sued the administration to try to reverse its blacklisting by the Pentagon and President Donald Trump’s directive banning federal agencies from using its AI system, Claude.
Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted Anthropic’s motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that, as the court stated, “Anthropic has shown that these broad punitive measures were likely unlawful and that it is suffering irreparable harm from them.”
The court noted that after Anthropic went public with its disagreement with the Department of Defense, Defendants reacted with three significant measures that are the subject of this lawsuit.
First, the President announced that every federal agency would immediately ban Anthropic from future government contracts. Second, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that entities seeking to do business with the U.S. military must sever any commercial relationship with Anthropic. Third, the Department of Defense designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” a label that applies to adversaries of the U.S. government who may sabotage its technology systems, which the court noted has never been applied to a domestic company and is directed principally at foreign intelligence agencies, terrorists, and other hostile actors.
The order halts measures including a directive that federal agencies cease using Anthropic’s technology, restrictions involving contractors, and its designation as a “supply chain risk.”
The court further noted that the measures “do not appear to be directed at the government’s stated national security interests,” observing that the Department of Defense could have simply stopped using Anthropic’s technology. Instead, the court said the actions “appear designed to punish Anthropic” and could severely harm the company. The order also referenced an amicus brief that described the measures as “attempted corporate murder,” adding that while the term may be overstated, the evidence shows they would “cripple Anthropic.”
The court noted that the Department of Defense’s own records indicated Anthropic was designated a “supply chain risk” due to its “hostile manner through the press.” The court found that “punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.”
The dispute with Anthropic began after it refused to allow its AI system, Claude, to be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, saying it was not ready for such uses. In response, the Trump administration announced that federal agencies would cease use of Anthropic’s technology, with the Department of Defense escalating the conflict by designating the company a national security “supply chain risk.”
Also Read: Breaking News: Pentagon Allows Limited Use of Anthropic AI Despite Ban
