Home›Global Markets›North America›Judge rules U.S. retaliation against Anthropic was unl…

Judge rules U.S. retaliation against Anthropic was unlawful

The Pentagon had labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk in February, and the judge said the national security rationale was not grounds to punish critics or force contractors to boycott the firm.

Reported · Written up by our desk · North America

A US district judge ruled the Department of Defense acted unlawfully when it designated AI startup Anthropic a supply chain risk, calling the action illegal and baseless, according to BBC Business. The dispute centers on Anthropic’s refusal to let the military use its AI models for certain purposes, including surveillance and autonomous weapons, the outlet reported. Anthropic had argued that Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth overstepped his authority with the new designation, while the judge said national security cannot be used as a blank check to retaliate against government critics. BBC Business reported that Judge Rita Lin found the department unlawfully tried to order firms that do business with the US military to boycott Anthropic. The ruling also addressed the February designation, which a law typically reserves for companies based in countries the US considers threats, and said it was the first time an American company was publicly labeled a supply chain risk. Anthropic welcomed the decision and told the outlet it aims to work productively with government to harness AI for national security. BBC Business said the company argued its models are not reliable enough for safe weapons system use and that it opposed domestic surveillance as a violation of rights, while the Pentagon previously argued that private companies should not be able to constrain military action and that Anthropic’s refusal to accept revised contract terms raised technology concerns.

More like this

Sources