A US judge blocked the Pentagon’s designation of Anthropic as a “supply chain risk.”
The Department of Defense wanted to stop all military suppliers from contracting with the AI company after a row in which Anthropic refused to allow its products to power domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
The court called the move “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious,” and restored the status quo ante, although the DoD is still free to find other contractors and is not obliged to employ Anthropic. The decision is temporary, but a symbolic victory for Anthropic, WIRED reported, reducing concerns that the company could be made “an industry pariah” and lose customers beyond defense contracts.