Trump administration actions against Anthropic 'illegal and baseless,' US judge rules
( August 28, 2026, 01:22 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: A federal judge in California has ruled that the Department of War's action to remove Anthropic from the US supply chain for national security concerns was "illegal and baseless." "The undisputed record shows that the challenged actions constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, and that Anthropic was denied the pre-deprivation process required under the Fifth Amendment," US District Judge Rita F. Lin ruled in San Francisco, granting Anthropic's motion for summary judgment against the government. "The government is certainly owed deference on weighty issues of national security," Lin added. "But Defendants’ contemporaneous words and deeds confirm that the challenged actions were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its 'arrogance' in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model."See attached order....
Prepare for tomorrow’s regulatory change, today
MLex identifies risk to business wherever it emerges, with specialist reporters across the globe providing exclusive news and deep-dive analysis on the proposals, probes, enforcement actions and rulings that matter to your organization and clients, now and in the longer term.
Know what others in the room don’t, with features including:
- Daily newsletters for Antitrust, M&A, Trade, Data Privacy & Security, Technology, AI and more
- Custom alerts on specific filters including geographies, industries, topics and companies to suit your practice needs
- Predictive analysis from expert journalists across North America, the UK and Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific
- Curated case files bringing together news, analysis and source documents in a single timeline
Experience MLex today with a 14-day free trial.