A court strikes down the exclusion of Anthropic

On 27 August 2026 Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic summary judgment: its designation as a supply-chain risk was unlawful retaliation under the First Amendment, violated Fifth Amendment due process and was arbitrary and capricious. She vacated the designation and permanently enjoined the measures against the company.

The case is Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War, No. 3:26-cv-01996 in the Northern District of California. The suit was filed on 9 March 2026 over measures taken on 27 February and 3 March, and on 26 March the same court had already enjoined them preliminarily. The judge found that the department had acted on "a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its 'arrogance' in criticizing the government", and wrote: "The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics." The measures imposed on the company were, in her words, "illegal and baseless". On one count, that the government had acted beyond its powers, the government won. The matter is not closed. A related case, in which the exclusion is challenged under another statute (41 U.S.C. § 4713), ended the other way in the D.C. Circuit: on 25 September 2026 it denied Anthropic's petitions two judges to one (evt-1060). On 13 October Anthropic petitioned for rehearing en banc; the outcome of that petition is not known here. On 26 October 2026 the government gave notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit from the order on the cross-motions, the order of final relief and the judgment (ECF 250 to 252). What became of the earlier appeal of the preliminary injunction, which had been stayed until the D.C. Circuit ruled, was not checked.