'Orwellian Notion': Federal workers can access Claude AI again after judge ditches Trump's Anthropic ban

• Federal workers regain Claude access after court blocks controversial designation
• Judge calls government move unconstitutional retaliation against AI company
• Anthropic rejects military use, triggering federal access shutdown and backlash

Federal employees can now log back into Anthropic’s Claude for Government service after a California federal judge blocked the Trump administration from designating the AI company as a supply chain risk.

US District Judge Rita Lin issued a preliminary injunction, granting Anthropic’s motion to prevent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the administration from declaring the company a threat.

Federal workers at agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services received emails informing them that access to Claude has been restored, along with any previous conversation history and data.

Cause of the dispute

The conflict erupted in early 2026 after Anthropic refused to allow its Claude AI model to be used for developing lethal autonomous weapons or for mass surveillance of the US population.

The company stepped away from partnership discussions with the US military over these concerns, which included fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance capabilities.

In response, the Trump administration designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, a move that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei described as “legally unsound.”

This decision by the Trump administration did not stop millions of users from signing up for Claude daily.

The US government has never applied this designation to a domestic company, as it is typically directed at foreign intelligence agencies, terrorists, and other hostile actors.

Judge Lin used striking language in her 43-page order granting the preliminary injunction.

“Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the US for expressing disagreement with the government,” Lin wrote.

She labeled the administration’s actions as “classic First Amendment retaliation.”

Lin noted that the designation has never been applied to a domestic company and is directed principally at foreign intelligence agencies, terrorists, and other hostile actors.

The Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has dubbed the Department of War, has appealed Lin’s order to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The administration did not ask the appellate court to stay the district court injunction, allowing it to go into effect.

Anthropic is also asking the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to issue an emergency stay of the Defense Department’s supply chain designation.

The company argues that the administration violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.

This preliminary injunction allows federal workers to access Claude again, but the legal fight is far from over.

Via MLex

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