Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon's ban on Anthropic

• The preliminary injunction gives Anthropic relief from ongoing reputational damage and provides greater certainty for commercial partners, the company says.

State of play: U.S. District Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic a preliminary injunction on Thursday.

• A parallel case is ongoing in a D.C. court.
• Anthropic is arguing in both proceedings that the Pentagon is violating the First Amendment and procurement law.
• The Pentagon has argued in court that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's and President Trump's online posts don't have legal standing and therefore there's no irreparable harm taking place.

Lin wrote in her order that nothing in the governing statute regarding the supply chain risk designation "supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government."

What they're saying: "We're grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits," an Anthropic spokesperson said.

• "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."

Catch up quick: Lin during a hearing earlier this week expressed skepticism that the administration's punishments were aligned with national security concerns when the Pentagon could simply decide to stop using Claude.

• The administration's designation goes further and says any company that does business with the Pentagon has to cut ties with Anthropic.

Go deeper: Scoop: Altman told staff he tried to "save" Anthropic in Pentagon clash