Dispatch from Anthropic v. Department of War Summary Judgment Motion Hearing

Dateline SAN FRANCISCO, 30 July 2026— A hearing was held on a motion for summary judgment in the case of Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War et al. in Courtroom 4 on the 17th floor of the Phillip Burton Federal Building, the Hon. Rita F. Lin presiding. The case is not going well for the government. Two days after the last hearing in March , Judge Lin issued a preliminary injunction halting the implementation of President Donald Trump's order for federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's technology and preventing the Department of War from designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk. ( A separate case involving a different statute is pending before the D.C. Circuit Court, which did not grant injunctive relief to Anthropic.) With no factual disputes requiring a jury to decide, the case was scheduled to be decided by Judge Lin on the basis of the written record. Anthropic filed their argument for why they should win . Perhaps tellingly, the government's rebuttal explaining why they should win instead ends on a section explaining that "only modest relief is warranted" if Anthropic wins—and Judge Lin asked Anthropic to propose what they think the final judgment should look like . Meanwhile, in Congress, next year's defense appropriation bill adds language to the statute on the supply chain risk designation that prohibits designating a domestic company as a supply chain risk for declining contract terms. About a dozen spectators (including the present writer) dotted the gall…