The NewYorkTimes.com reported that “A federal judge on Thursday temporarily stopped the Department of Defense from labeling Anthropic as a security risk, in a reprieve for the artificial intelligence start-up and its work with the federal government.”  The March 26, 2026 article entitled “Judge Stays Pentagon’s Labeling of Anthropic as ‘Supply Chain Risk’” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/technology/anthropic-pentagon-risk-injunction.html) included this link to the Order (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465515/gov.uscourts.cand.465515.134.0.pdf) and these comments from Reporter Mike Isaac:

In a scathing 43-page ruling, Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said Anthropic would not be restricted from continuing with its federal contracts for now. The ruling is not a final decision, as the case continues.

“The record supports an inference that Anthropic is being punished for criticizing the government’s contracting position in the press,” Judge Lin wrote in the order granting the preliminary injunction against the government. “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government.”

The case stems from a dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic this year over a $200 million contract and the use of A.I. in warfare. During the contract negotiations, Anthropic wanted certain limits imposed on its A.I.’s use for surveillance and autonomous weapons, while the Department of Defense argued that no private contractor could tell it how to use technology.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then labeled Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” a designation typically applied to foreign companies that pose national security concerns. The label effectively blacklists a company from doing business with U.S. government entities.

Anthropic subsequently filed two lawsuits — one in the court in California and one in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — accusing the Pentagon of using the designation inappropriately to punish the company on ideological grounds.

Judge Lin wrote that she granted the injunction because Anthropic had shown a high likelihood of success in its lawsuit, given that “government officials cannot use the ‘power of the state to punish or suppress disfavored expression.’”

The company also showed sufficient grounds to prove that the government’s actions were “arbitrary and capricious,” she added.

Very interesting! What do you think?

First published at https://www.vogelitlaw.com/blog/pentagon-is-enjoined-from-calling-anthropic-as-supply-chain-risk