Court Scrutiny

A federal judge signaled fresh skepticism toward the Trump administration's decision to label Anthropic a supply-chain risk, a designation that blocks federal use of the company's AI systems.

At a Thursday hearing, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin said the government had not yet shown enough evidence for the label, according to TechCrunch. The hearing centered partly on the Department of Defense's argument that Anthropic could disable or alter its models during wartime operations. Lin said she had not seen proof that Anthropic could change a delivered model or activate the kind of "kill switch" scenario described by the government.

The dispute dates to March, when Anthropic sued the Defense Department after the agency applied the supply-chain risk designation. Anthropic has said it objected to uses of its models for mass surveillance of Americans and for targeting or lethal-weapons decisions without human oversight. The Pentagon has argued that a private contractor should not set limits on lawful military use.

The July hearing does not end the case. Lin previously paused enforcement of the ban, and she is now weighing whether that order should become permanent while the litigation continues. The separate Washington case over the same dispute is still pending, leaving the government's AI procurement restrictions unresolved.