Federal judge sides with Anthropic in first round of standoff with Pentagon

A federal judge in California sided with Anthropic in its case against the Defense Department on Thursday, ordering a temporary stay of the government’s punitive actions against the artificial intelligence company.

Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction while the Northern District Court of California hears the company’s case. Anthropic argued that the Defense Department and Donald Trump violated its First Amendment rights by declaring the company a supply chain risk and ordering government agencies to stop using its technology.

The judge kept the order in place for a week.

The months-long conflict between Anthropic and the government centered on the company’s refusal to allow the Defense Department to use its Claude AI model for fully autonomous lethal weapons or domestic mass surveillance. Anthropic filed a lawsuit against the government earlier this month, which began with a preliminary injunction hearing on Tuesday.

Judge Lins…