GoKawiil“Classic First Amendment retaliation.” That’s how US District Judge Rita Lin described the Department of War’s effort to blacklist Anthropic and designate it a supply-chain risk.
By all appearances, “these measures appear designed to punish Anthropic,” Lin wrote in an order granting Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Officials seemingly had no authority to take such extreme actions without considering less restrictive alternatives or offering any evidence that Anthropic posed an urgent risk to national security, Lin said. Instead, “the Department of War’s records show that it designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk because of its ‘hostile manner through the press.’”
“Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation,” Lin said.
Anthropic’s spokesperson told Ars the firm is “grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits.” But Anthropic remains in a difficult position, still afraid that the fight will block it from competing for lucrative government contracts. In a blog earlier this month, Anthropic maintained that “Anthropic has much more in common with the Department of War than we have differences” and should be working together to deploy AI safely across government. Anthropic is still walking the same line in the aftermath of Lin’s order.
“While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI,” Anthropic’s spokesperson said.
DoW official calls order a “disgrace”
For Anthropic this fight could be existential. After the DoW’s actions, three trade deals were promptly cancelled, while other potential partners delayed talks. The company showed it was already suffering irreparable harms that would only worsen the longer the blacklisting was upheld—including losing potentially billions in private and government contracts the company expected to sign over the next five years, Lin noted.