A United States federal court has officially blocked the Pentagon from enforcing a ban on Anthropic. US District Judge Rita Lin stated that the Department of Defense calling the company a supply chain risk was illegal and without a real foundation. This ruling stops specific federal agencies from following a previous order by President Trump to halt the use of Anthropic software tools.
The dispute starts over weapon and surveillance safety rules
The conflict kicked off in late February when the Department of Defense and Secretary Pete Hegseth pressured Anthropic to lift specific safety guardrails from its systems. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to let the company remove limits that prevent its software from being used for mass surveillance or building autonomous weapons.
Following this refusal, President Trump directed all US government agencies to stop using Claude and other services provided by the artificial intelligence firm. He announced on social media that agencies would have a six-month window to switch away from Anthropic products. When discussions broke down, Anthropic became the first US company labeled as a supply chain risk by the government.
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Court lifts the ban, but one risk designation remains
Anthropic decided to sue the White House in two separate federal courts to fight these two distinct risk designations. In her 59-page decision, Judge Lin noted that national security claims cannot just be used as an excuse to silence or penalize companies. She stated, “The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics.”
While the company won this specific case, it still carries a supply chain risk label because of the second pending lawsuit. Even if Anthropic wins the next legal battle, the Pentagon is not forced to start working with the AI provider again. Despite these government hurdles, Anthropic continues to grow rapidly and recently posted record-high revenue figures. The outcome of the second pending lawsuit will ultimately decide if the company can fully clear its name with federal agencies going forward.
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