A federal judge in San Francisco granted Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against the Trump administration, temporarily blocking the government-wide ban of the artificial intelligence (AI) company’s technology.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued the ruling on Thursday, two days after lawyers for both parties appeared in court for a hearing. Lin’s ruling is not final; a final verdict could take weeks or months.
The lawsuit arises from a dispute between the Department of Defense (DOD) – which the Trump administration rebranded to the Department of War – and Anthropic over the company’s refusal to allow its AI models to be used in mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
In response, President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to sever ties with Anthropic, and soon after, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled the company a supply chain risk.
Anthropic filed two lawsuits alleging illegal retaliation by the federal government, while the government defended the Pentagon’s decision, arguing in a court filing that it was lawful and based on national security concerns.
Anthropic sought the injunction to halt further damage, both financially and to its reputation, as the case progresses. The ruling temporarily prevents the Trump administration from implementing, applying, or enforcing the president’s directive, and also hinders the Pentagon’s efforts to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk.
Lin wrote in the order that the “Department of War’s records show that it designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk because of its ‘hostile manner through the press.’”
Lin further added that “punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.”
Similar to the Tuesday hearing, Lin emphasized that the case centers not on whether the DOD should stop using Anthropic’s services, but whether the government had violated the law.
“Everyone, including Anthropic, agrees that the [DOD] is free to stop using Claude and look for a more permissive AI vendor,” Lin said. “I don’t see that as being what this case is about.”
The order does not require the DOD to use Anthropic’s products or services, nor does it prevent the department from transitioning to other AI providers, “provided those actions comply with applicable regulations, statutes, and constitutional provisions.”
The order will take effect in seven days.
Anthropic has also filed a second lawsuit seeking a formal review of the DOD’s determination in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. That case remains pending.