The Trump administration is appealing a judge’s order blocking the federal government from taking punitive measures against artificial intelligence company Anthropic after a dispute with the Pentagon over military use of AI.  He should win the appeal.

     Department of Justice attorneys filed a notice in San Francisco federal court of their intention to appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which will review Lin’s order, set an April 30 deadline for the Justice Department to file documents outlining their reasons why the decision should be overturned.  Lin last week said she was blocking the Pentagon from labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk. She also said she was blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s social media directive ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic and its chatbot Claude.7

     Lin said the “broad punitive measures” taken against the AI company by the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared arbitrary, capricious and could “cripple Anthropic,” particularly Hegseth’s use of a rare military authority that’s previously been directed at foreign adversaries.  “Nothing in the governing statute 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,” Lin wrote.

     A top Pentagon official  Lin’s order a “disgrace.” U.S. Defense Undersecretary Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said on social media it would disrupt Hegseth’s “full ability to conduct military operations with the partners it chooses.”  Lin had stayed her order for a week, which gave time for the Pentagon to take the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She had also said her order doesn’t require the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s products or prevent it from transitioning to other AI providers.