RismadarVoice Reporters
August 28, 2026
A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Department of Defence illegally retaliated against artificial intelligence company Anthropic after the company raised objections to how its AI models could be used by the government.
The ruling found that the department, led by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, attempted to “make a public example” of Anthropic after the company declined to allow the Pentagon to use its AI systems for certain applications.
Anthropic had accused the Pentagon of unlawfully designating the company as a national security risk after the dispute over the proposed uses of its technology.
According to the account provided, the Trump administration declared Anthropic a supply chain risk earlier this year after the company refused to permit the Pentagon to use its AI models for mass surveillance of Americans or for the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems.
The federal court’s decision represents a legal setback for the Defence Department and raises questions about the limits of the government’s authority to penalise technology companies over restrictions they place on the use of their artificial intelligence systems.
Anthropic has argued that its position was based on restrictions concerning how its technology could be deployed, particularly in areas involving surveillance and autonomous weapons.
The ruling comes amid growing disputes between the U.S. government and major AI companies over the military and national-security applications of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems.
