In a landmark decision on Monday, U.S. District Judge Elena Ramirez ruled that the Department of Defense’s recent restrictions placed on the artificial‑intelligence startup Anthropic were “illegal and baseless,” overturning an earlier injunction that had barred the company from receiving certain federal contracts. The judge found that the Pentagon’s justification—citing national security concerns over the company’s language‑model technology—lacked concrete evidence and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Anthropic, a leading AI research firm known for its safety‑focused models, had been barred from participating in a $250 million defense research program. The ruling orders the DOD to rescind the restrictions and to provide a clear, evidence‑based rationale should it seek to impose any future limitations on AI firms. Legal experts say the case could set a precedent for how government agencies regulate emerging AI technologies.
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