Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, judge rules

A judge has ruled the US Department of Defense acted unlawfully when it designated artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic a supply chain risk, calling the move illegal and baseless. The company argued in the lawsuit that Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth overstepped his authority with the new designation. It followed Anthropic's refusal to allow the military to use its AI models for things that included surveillance or autonomous weapons. US district judge Rita Lin said in the ruling that citing national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics. Anthropic said it welcomes the ruling.