The judge ordered that designation be rescinded, saying the government violated the law by imposing it in response to Anthropic’s criticism of Trump administration policy.

“The undisputed record shows that the challenged actions constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, and that Anthropic was denied the pre-deprivation process required under the Fifth Amendment. The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics.”