Anthropic won preliminary injunction in DOD fight as a federal judge has ruled in its favour of temporarily blocking the Pentagon from labeling it as a supply chain risk.
On Thursday, March 26, 2026, US District Judge Rita Lin stated she was also blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's social media directive ordering federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s services.
“Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation,” Lin wrote in the order.
Notably, the final verdict is still expected in a few months.
“Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government,” she further added.
Lin’s ruling comes after a 90-minute hearing in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday at which Lin asked why the Trump administration imposed extreme punishment on Anthropic after the company denied deploying its technology in fully autonomous weapons and mass-surveillance on US citizens, and more.
The Pentagon had argued that it should be able to use Claude in any way it deems lawful.
Anthropic asked Lin to issue an emergency order to remove a stigma that the company alleges was unjustifiably applied as part of an “unlawful campaign of retaliation,” prompting the company to take legal action against the Trump administration earlier this month.
Notably, Anthropic has also filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon to try to declare Anthropic a supply chain risk.
Anthropic expressed gratitude in a statement, which read, “grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits.”
The company stated the case was important to protect its business but it remains focused on “working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI,” Anthropic added.
Pentagon has yet to comment about the ruling.
