A federal judge ruled that the Pentagon acted illegally when it designated Anthropic a ‘supply chain risk’ in February 2026. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin found the designation was retaliation for Anthropic’s public criticism of the Defense Department’s AI policies, writing it was ‘based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic’ for its ‘arrogance.’ Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had refused to allow unrestricted military use of the company’s technology over concerns about mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, and the government has indicated it plans to appeal.
