A federal judge on Thursday signaled increased skepticism of the Pentagon's decision to blacklist Anthropic during arguments over the AI company's legal challenge to its designation as a supply-chain risk. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin said within the first five minutes of the hearing, "I don't see additional evidence from the government really justifying what it did. If anything, it seems like the record, in some ways, has gotten worse for the government." She added, "I don't see evidence that Anthropic could alter the model after it was delivered or flip some kind of kill switch." Both Anthropic and the Pentagon have asked the judge to grant summary judgment. The dispute began early this year after clashing over the military's use of the company's AI models. The Defense Department sought to use Claude for "all lawful purposes," while Anthropic insisted that mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons remain off-limits. The Pentagon designated Anthropic a national security and supply-chain risk earlier this year, leading the AI lab to sue. At a March hearing, Lin called the administration's treatment "troubling" and later temporarily blocked the ban. Lin is not expected to rule from the bench, and the losing party is expected to appeal.