Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, speaks to “The Circuit with Emily Chang” at Anthropic’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A federal judge in California ruled Thursday that the Pentagon’s efforts to blacklist Anthrop Inc. earlier this year violated the First Amendment and deprived artificial intelligence companies of constitutionally protected freedoms.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin revoked Anthropic’s supply chain risk designation and declared that the Department of Defense’s actions violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Mr. Lin directed the Department of Defense to rescind all guidance, directives, communications, and instructions issued to the company.
“Defendants claim that because of Anthropic’s ‘increasingly hostile behavior in the media’ and the company’s criticism of the Department of the Army’s position on the use of AI, ‘Anthropic cannot be trusted to vouch for the integrity of its model,'” Lin wrote. “Neither the Constitution nor the federal law invoked by the defendants permits the imposition of significant penalties based primarily on Anthropic’s criticism of the administration’s views.”
In March, the Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, meaning the company allegedly poses a threat to U.S. national security, after negotiations over how the military uses its Claude AI model spiraled out of control. This designation prohibited defense contractors from using Anthropic’s technology in their work with Anthropic.
Anthropic sued the Trump administration to have its blacklisting removed. In addition to the California lawsuit, the company has filed a separate, related lawsuit in Washington, D.C., which is still ongoing. The Department of Defense relies on two different designations to justify its actions regarding supply chain risk, which means these designations must be litigated in two separate courts.
Anthropic praised Lin’s decision in a statement.
“We welcome the court’s ruling that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful,” a spokesperson told CNBC. “We remain committed to working productively with the government to leverage AI for national security and ensure all Americans benefit from this technology.”
The ruling clears a major hurdle for Anthropic as it moves toward what is expected to be a near-record IPO. The company has shown no signs of slowing down since being blacklisted, but rebuilding its relationship with the Pentagon could open up additional business opportunities that had been blocked.
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