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Ars Technica Mar 27, 2026 at 19:49 Big Tech

Hegseth, Trump had no authority to order Anthropic to be blacklisted, judge says

“I don’t know”: Department of War fails to justify blacklisting Anthropic.

By Ashley Belanger Original source
Hegseth, Trump had no authority to order Anthropic to be blacklisted, judge says

"Classic First Amendment retaliation." That's how US District Judge Rita Lin described the Department of War's effort to blacklist Anthropic and designate it a supply-chain risk. By all appearances, "these measures appear designed to punish Anthropic," Lin wrote in an order granting Anthropic's request for a preliminary injunction. Officials seemingly had no authority to take such extreme actions without considering less restrictive alternatives or offering any evidence that Anthropic posed an urgent risk to national security, Lin said. Instead, "the Department of War’s records show that it designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk because of its 'hostile manner through the press.'"Read full article Comments

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