[U.S. Judge Rules Pentagon's Blacklisting of Anthropic Illegal] According to Deep Tide TechFlow, on August 28, as reported by *The New York Times*, Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a 59-page ruling on August 27 local time, determining that the Trump administration's designation of artificial intelligence startup Anthropic as a security risk and its prohibition from participating in government collaborations was unlawful. The judge stated that the government's actions constituted retaliation against Anthropic for its constitutionally protected speech—specifically, the company's prior opposition to its technology being used for mass surveillance of U.S. citizens or in autonomous lethal weapon systems. The ruling stated: 'The hollow invocation of national security cannot serve as a blank check to punish and retaliate against critics of the government.'