A federal judge in San Francisco granted Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against the Trump administration.
Judge Rita Lin issued the ruling on Thursday, two days after lawyers for the artificial intelligence startup and the U.S. government appeared in court for a hearing. Anthropic sued the administration to try to reverse its blacklisting by the Pentagon and President Donald Trump’s directive banning federal agencies from using its Claude models.
Anthropic sought the injunction to pause those actions and prevent further monetary and reputational harm as the case unfolds.
Anthropic issued the following statement on the ruling, “We’re grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits. 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.”
“Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation,” Judge Lin wrote in the order. A final verdict in the case could still be months away.
