# Federal judge finds Pentagon's Anthropic designation was unlawful retaliation

_Tuesday, September 1, 2026 at 9:13 PM EDT · AI, Policy · Latest · Tier 1 — Major_

![Federal judge finds Pentagon's Anthropic designation was unlawful retaliation — Primary](https://www.eff.org/files/banner_library/ai-soldiers-3b.png)

A federal judge sided with Anthropic in its challenge to the Defense Department's designation of the AI company as a supply-chain risk, finding the designation was unlawful retaliation for protected speech, according to EFF. The designation had barred the government and companies doing business with it from using Anthropic products for government projects. The court left open whether a company's choices over permitted uses of its technology are themselves protected speech.

## Sources

- [Deeplinks](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/judge-rules-dod-unlawfully-retaliated-against-anthropic)

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Retrieved: 2026-09-02T05:02:35.914Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)