Judge questions Pentagon’s motives in spat over Anthropic security-risk label

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Federal Judge Rita Lin pressed attorneys on Tuesday about why the Trump administration labeled Anthropic a security threat, at a hearing focused on a dispute over how the company’s artificial intelligence technology can be used in war and other sensitive contexts.

Lin, who presided over the 90-minute session in San Francisco, questioned whether the administration’s actions appeared connected to national security concerns, according to the Associated Press. She said, “What is troubling to me about these these actions is they don’t seem to be tailored to the national security concerns.”

The court proceedings grew out of a disagreement that, Anthropic argues, went beyond a contracting fight. The company is seeking emergency relief from the stigma it says the government applied as part of what it described as retaliation, and it has also filed another case in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Lin probed the government’s rationale after the administration took what the company called an extraordinary step of denouncing Anthropic as a supply-chain risk. The dispute followed the administration’s earlier balking at Anthropic’s attempt to prevent its technology from being deployed in fully autonomous weapons or from being used for surveillance of Americans, the AP reported.

Lin also indicated she was not deciding broader public policy questions about AI, stating she was focusing on whether the Trump administration acted improperly by applying a “scarlet letter” style label that she said is typically used for companies linked to foreign adversaries such as China or Russia.

Anthropic’s case also ties the security-threat label to actions taken publicly in a Feb. 27 statement from President Donald Trump in which he blasted the company as part of the “radical, woke left.” The administration also ordered federal employees to stop using Anthropic’s technology, including its Claude chatbot, and gave the Pentagon six months to phase out Anthropic’s technology, the AP said.

During the hearing, the government argued that the company could not be treated as a reliable partner, even as it acknowledged procedural missteps in how the security risk designation was reached. Department of Justice attorney Eric Hamilton maintained that Anthropic “revealed itself to be an untrustworthy and unreliable partner in recent negotiations,” and he argued for “substantial deference” to the administration’s judgment about security risk.

Hamilton also asserted that the Defense Department “will continue to direct its operations without tech company influence.” Anthropic’s attorney, Michael Mongan, argued that the company had already incurred damage and sought court intervention to prevent additional harm, telling Lin, “Anthropic has suffered irreparable and mounting injuries.”

Lin did not issue a ruling Tuesday. Instead, she asked lawyers for both sides to submit further evidence by Wednesday, and she indicated she would rule before the end of the week, according to the AP report.