Judge torpedoes Trump admin plan in new ruling

On Thursday, a federal judge signaled that she's become even more skeptical of the government's reasoning for its decision to blacklist Anthropic, notingthat the arguments put forth by Department of Justice attorneys actually made their case "worse."

According to Lawfare Senior Editor Roger Paloff, who spent Thursday morning live-tweeting the hearing, "Judge Lin felt Anthropic's arguments were even stronger than when she granted a preliminary injunction in March. Seems to think the 'supply-chain risk' designation was punishment for 1st Am protected speech."

The case dates back to February, when the Pentagon designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk," banning the company's tech from being used by the DOJ after it refused to eliminate safety protocols on its AI system that would prevent the autonomous killing of humans and other dangerous uses. Anthropic then sued the Pentagon alleging a First Amendment violation, arguing that the government had retaliated for the company's outspoken views on AI safety. According to Axios, the company asserted that "the Pentagon has a right to disagree and choose not to work with Anthropic... but it can't stigmatize the company as a security risk over protected speech." At the time, Judge Rita Lin placed an injunction on the ban until she could hear further arguments.

Now that she has, the case does not appear to be going well for the Trump administration. "I don't see additional evidence from the government really justifying what it did. If anything, it seems like the record, in some ways, has gotten worse for the government," declared the judge.

The government had essentially claimed that Anthropic could pose some unforeseen risk, while the company's attorneys argued that evidence that the ban was a retaliatory effort was obvious, as the whole thing had been dished out in public. While the judge has yet to deliver a final ruling, she seems inclined to reject the Pentagon's assertions, saying, "I don't see evidence that Anthropic could alter the model after it was delivered or flip some kind of kill switch."