Judge Blocks Pentagon's AI Ban on Anthropic

0:00It's March 27. You're listening to Canada News today, AI Power Local News. I'm Corey with The Story. A federal judge in San Francisco has cited with AI company Anthropic temporarily stopping the Pentagon from calling it a supply chain risk. The ruling also blocks a directive from President Donald Trump that would have barred all federal agencies from using Anthropics technology. This came after negotiations broke down on a defense contract. Anthropic, which makes the chatbot Claude, refused to let its AI power fully autonomous weapons or surveil Americans. The judge questioned the government's harsh response during a 90-minute hearing on Tuesday. Anthropic sued, claiming the label was pure retaliation to punish the company. The judge agreed it looked more like payback than a real security concern, especially since the Pentagon could simply stop using Claude. The order takes effect in a week and is not forced the Pentagon to keep buying from Anthropic or block a switch to other AI providers.

1:01Meanwhile, Anthropic has another related case pending in Washington, D.C.'s federal appeals court. For now, this gives Anthropic some breathing room as the legal fight over AI limits in the military continues to unfold.