WASHINGTON — Federal Judge Rita Lin issued a sweeping preliminary injunction in Anthropic’s favor Thursday, the latest move in the weeks-long conflict between the AI company and the US government.
“The record strongly suggests that the reasons given for designating Anthropic a supply chain risk were pretextual and that [the government’s] real motive was unlawful retaliation,” Lin, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, wrote in the 48-page order [PDF].
By granting the preliminary junction, she found Anthropic was “likely to succeed” in its lawsuit against the government and therefore, the 17 federal agencies named as defendants — from the Pentagon to the National Endowment for the Humanities — are not allowed to implement the orders designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk until the lawsuit is decided.
After Anthropic refused to accept new contract language allowing “all lawful use” of its Claude AI by the military, President Donald Trump in a Feb. 27 Truth Social post directed federal agencies to “IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology,” and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that “no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”
Then on March 4, two formal letters from the administration simultaneously designated Anthropic as a Supply Chain Risk under two statutes: Title 41, Section 4713 (41 USC 4713), which covers the federal government as a whole (covering Trump’s order), and Title 10, Section 3252, which spells out a streamlined process for use solely by the Department of Defense (covering Hegseth’s).
While the official designation was less harsh than envisioned, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said he still intended to sue the government to overturn the decision. The company filed two separate lawsuits: a general one in the Northern District of California and one in the DC Circuit specifically on the Sec. 4713 designation.
Just hours after Thursday’s injunction in the California case, Undersecretary of Defense and Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s point man in the dispute, posted on X that Lin’s order contained “dozens of factual errors” and that “the Supply Chain Risk designation … is in full force and effect” under Sec. 4713, which he claimed was not subject to her jurisdiction in any case. When asked for comment, a Pentagon spokesperson referred Breaking Defense to Michael’s X posts.
An Anthropic spokesperson told Breaking Defense the company is “still waiting on the decision on the DC circuit.
“We’re grateful to the [California] court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits,” the spokesperson said. “While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI.”
Legal opinion on Lin’s order is divided. “Some smart lawyers I’ve talked to about this think that Judge Lin’s injunction basically just doesn’t cover the other (41 USC 4713) designation at all and that only a DC Circuit stay could affect that designation,” said Charlie Bullock, a senior fellow at the Institute for Law and AI. “So under that theory, Anthropic is in a pretty similar position today to the position they were in [Wednesday], practically speaking.”
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On the other hand, Bullock said in an email to Breaking Defense, “Judge Lin’s order can be interpreted to enjoin DoW [the Department of War] from enforcing the 4713 designation.”
In her ruling Thursday, Lin imposed a seven-day stay on her own order, meaning her preliminary injunction doesn’t go into effect for a week.
“That’s not too uncommon,” said Sean Timmons of Tully Rinckey, a former military JAG who now regularly represents current and former servicemembers against the government. “It gives everybody time to file appropriate pleading for either reconsideration or appellate intervention.”
In this case, the appellate court for Lin’s ruling would be the federal 9th Circuit, which is comprised of appointees from across the political spectrum, Timmons said, making its rulings harder to predict. “I don’t think they’d be inclined to grant the government relief,” he added.
Of the lawsuit overall, he said, “this could drag out for a year or two. … In the meantime damages continue to incur, and the government could be liable for a breach of contract and ultimately payment for the money lost by Anthropic.”
