Cybersecurity Policy Report, Anthropic Wins Court Reprieve in Lawsuit Against Trump Administration, (Mar 27, 2026)
The Trump administration went too far when it designated Anthropic as a threat to national security after the artificial intelligence provider expressed opposition to the use of its AI for domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, according to a federal judge who yesterday approved Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction.
“Anthropic says its artificial intelligence product, Claude, is not ready for safe use in fully autonomous lethal weapons or the mass surveillance of Americans. If the U.S. government wants to use its technology, Anthropic insists that the government must agree not to use it for these purposes,” District Judge Rita Lin noted in her order.
“On the other hand, the Department of War says that it must be the one to decide what functions are safe for its AI tools to perform, not a private company,” Judge Lin said.
“This public policy question is not for this Court to answer in this litigation,” she added. “The question here is whether the government violated the law when it went further. After Anthropic went public with its disagreement with the Department of War, Defendants reacted with three significant measures that are the subject of this lawsuit.”
Anthropic sued the government in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California after President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly criticized the company, ordered federal agencies to cancel their contracts with Anthropic, and designated Anthropic as a threat to national security (Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War, et al., No. 3:26-cv-01996 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 9, 2026)).
The government’s actions followed Anthropic’s public dispute with the Department of Defense over contract terms that would bar DoD from using Anthropic’s AI tools for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons (CPR, March 11).
The penalties imposed on Anthropic “do not appear to be directed at the government’s stated national security interests,” Judge Lin said. “Instead, these measures appear designed to punish Anthropic.”
It would be unprecedented for Anthropic, a U.S. company, to be designated as a threat to national security, which is “a label that applies to adversaries of the U.S. government who may sabotage its technology systems,” she noted. “That designation has never been applied to a domestic company and is directed principally at foreign intelligence agencies, terrorists, and other hostile actors.”
“Moreover, Defendants’ designation of Anthropic as a ‘supply chain risk’ is likely both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious. The Department of War provides no legitimate basis to infer from Anthropic’s forthright insistence on usage restrictions that it might become a saboteur,” she said.
“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,” Judge Lin added. “At bottom, Anthropic has shown that these broad punitive measures were likely unlawful and that it is suffering irreparable harm from them.”
The judge stayed the preliminary injunction for seven days at the Trump administration’s request “to allow the United States to seek an emergency, expedited stay from the court of appeals.”
The court’s ruling was applauded by Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who noted that several business groups, free-speech advocates, and former national security officials had expressed support for Anthropic in amici briefs (CPR, March 16).
“The preliminary injunction barring the improper designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk is a victory for national security,” Sen. Warner said in a statement.
“There is clear alignment across the court, technology sector, and the private sector on this issue and I look forward to working alongside America’s technology leaders to ensure the responsible use of AI in military operations,” Sen. Warner added. “The stakes go far beyond a single company, with real consequences for the American economy and our national security, especially as the Trump administration sends thousands of servicemembers to war with Iran.”
Sen. Warner and five of his colleagues yesterday sent letters to five leading AI providers seeking information on whether DoD has used their AI tools for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons (see separate story).
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