In the first Anthropic court hearing challenging obstacles imposed by the Trump administration, the AI technology company asked the government to commit that it would not impose additional penalties on the company. That didn’t happen.
“I’m not ready to make any commitments on that matter,” James Harlow, a lawyer for the Justice Department, told U.S. district judge Rita Lin in a video conference on Tuesday.
In fact, the government is preparing to take another step designed to exclude companies from doing business with federal agencies. President Trump is currently finalizing an executive order that would formally ban the use of Anthropic tools across the government, according to a person in the White House familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it. Axios first reported on the plan.
Tuesday’s hearing stemmed from one of two federal lawsuits Anthropic submitted against the Trump administration on Monday, alleging that the government unconstitutionally elected him supply chain risk and turn it into a technology sector. Billions of dollars in income for Anthropic is now at risk, with current and prospective customers abandoning contracts and demanding new terms, according to the company.
Anthropic is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the risk designation and prevent the administration from taking further punitive action against the company.
The court appearance on Tuesday was to decide on the schedule of the preliminary hearing, and Anthropic is eager to appear soon to prevent further damage to its business. Michael Mongan, Anthropic’s attorney at WilmerHale, told Lin he has no qualms about delaying until April if the Trump administration can commit to not taking further action. “The actions of the defendants are causing irreparable injuries, and those injuries are increasing by the day,” Mongan said.
After Harlow refused, Lin moved the trial date to March 24 in San Francisco, although that schedule was later than Anthropic wanted. “The case is important from both sides, and I want to make sure that I decide on the expedited record but also the full record,” the judge said.
The schedule in the other case, in Washington, DC, has been put on hold while Anthropic pursues an administrative appeal to the Department of Defense, which is expected to fail on Wednesday.
The months-long dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic began when the AI firm refused to sign off on its current technology being used by the military for any legitimate purpose, which it fears could include broad surveillance of Americans and launching missiles without human oversight. The Department of Defense disputes spending decisions that are its prerogative.
Several lawyers with expertise in federal contracts and the US Constitution believe that the administration’s action against Anthropic continues a pattern of abusing the law to punish perceived political enemies, including universities, media companies and law firms (such as WilmerHalethe company representing Anthropic). The experts believe Anthropic should win, but the challenge will be to overcome the bias that courts often give to national security arguments from the government, especially during times of war.
“If this is one time, you can give the president respect,” says Harold Hongju Koh, a Yale Law School professor who worked in the administration of Barack Obama and. he has written about the Anthropic case. “But now, it cannot be forgotten that this is the latest in a series of events associated with a punitive presidency.”
David Super, a Georgetown University Law Center professor who studies the constitution, says the Defense Department provisions used to authorize Anthropic were designed to protect the country from potential attacks by its enemies.
