On Thursday, a judge ruled that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic earlier this year was unconstitutional, delivering the AI lab a significant victory.

The lawsuit, filed in March, argued that the Trump administration's actions were an unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. The decision was a response to Anthropic's refusal to drop two restrictions on the use of its AI, namely prohibiting mass surveillance of Americans and lethal autonomous weapons.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk was deemed arbitrary and baseless. Judge Rita F. Lin wrote, 'Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government's contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.'

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated that the company would not change its stance, emphasizing its commitment to ethical AI use. Less than 24 hours later, Anthropic was named a 'supply chain risk,' leading to the Pentagon signing deals with seven other AI labs, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and SpaceX.

In a statement, Anthropic spokesperson Danielle Ghiglieri welcomed the ruling, stating, 'We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.'