Trump-appointed judges refuse to block Trump blacklisting of Anthropic AI tech
9 hours ago
- #First Amendment
- #AI Ethics
- #Legal Battle
- A federal appeals court rejected Anthropic's emergency motion to halt the Trump administration's blacklisting, but expedited the case with oral arguments set for May 19.
- The ruling was issued by a panel of Republican-appointed judges, including Trump appointees, marking a setback for Anthropic in one of its two lawsuits against the administration.
- Anthropic claims it was blacklisted in retaliation for refusing to let its AI models be used in autonomous warfare and mass surveillance, exercising First Amendment rights.
- The court acknowledged Anthropic would suffer irreparable harm, primarily financial, but noted the firm hadn't shown its speech was 'chilled' during the litigation.
- In a separate case in California, a federal judge granted Anthropic a preliminary injunction, ruling the blacklisting violated the First Amendment; the Trump administration is appealing.