‘Premature’: Anthropic still in trouble despite court win, lawyers and lobbyists say |
‘Premature’: Anthropic still in trouble despite court win, lawyers and lobbyists say
The AI startup must still convince Trump-appointed judges in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause the government’s plan to label it a supply chain risk.
Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison) | AP Photo/Patrick Sison
Anthropic’s business remains at serious risk despite a Thursday ruling from a federal judge in California that temporarily blocked the Pentagon from declaring the AI startup a risk to national security, tech lawyers and lobbyists say.
Supporters of Anthropic’s stand against the Pentagon were quick to celebrate the 43-page order from U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, which found that the Trump administration improperly punished Anthropic by labeling it a supply chain risk for restricting the Defense Department’s use of its Claude AI model to surveil U.S. citizens or empower autonomous weapons.
The designation — never before applied to an American company — would stop Anthropic from pursuing its roughly $200 million contract with the Pentagon, as well as partnerships with other federal agencies. But it could also bar contractors from using Anthropic’s AI models as part of their work with the Pentagon. In Thursday’s ruling, Judge Lin wrote that three contractors either terminated their work with Anthropic or were instructed to do so by the government, and three deals valued at over $180 million fell apart “despite being on the verge of closing.”