A U.S. court ruled that the U.S. Ministry of National Defense's decision to label U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) corporations Anthropic a "national security threat" was unlawful.
According to Reuters on the 27th local time, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin ruled that day, citing constitutional provisions, that the Ministry of National Defense's decision to place Anthropic on a blacklist was unlawful. Judge Lin said, "The undisputed record shows that the challenged actions constitute unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment and that Anthropic was neither afforded nor granted the procedural safeguards against prior deprivation under the Fifth Amendment."
The First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution set out freedom of speech and due process, respectively. It means the court viewed as unlawful that the Ministry of National Defense retaliated out of displeasure with Anthropic's statements and failed to follow necessary procedures, such as providing an opportunity to respond before imposing sanctions.
Judge Lin also noted, "The decision by U.S. Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Pete Hegseth to designate Anthropic as a supply chain threat further appears in the record, without material dispute, to be contrary to the relevant legal framework and to be arbitrary and capricious."
In February this year, the U.S. Ministry of National Defense designated Anthropic as a supply chain threat corporations and ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's AI technology. It drew attention as an unusual case of applying to a U.S. company the authority used to control hostile-state agencies engaged in espionage or foreign companies suspected of cyber intrusions.
As the backdrop to the Ministry of National Defense's sanctions, attention focused on the fact that Anthropic had asked that its technology be barred from being used in autonomous lethal weapons and surveillance of U.S. citizens. Minister Hegseth pressured Anthropic to withdraw these guidelines it presented while providing AI models to the Ministry of National Defense, and when that failed, he imposed sanctions.