SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Trump administration is appealing a judge's order blocking the federal government from taking punitive measures against artificial intelligence company Anthropic after a dispute with the Pentagon over military use of AI.
Department of Justice attorneys filed a notice in San Francisco federal court on Thursday of their intention to appeal last week's ruling by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin.
Lin last week said she was blocking the Pentagon from labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk. She also said she was blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s social media directive ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic and its chatbot Claude.
Lin said the “broad punitive measures” taken against the AI company by the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared arbitrary, capricious and could “cripple Anthropic,” particularly Hegseth’s use of a rare military authority that’s previously been directed at foreign adversaries.
“Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government,” Lin wrote.
A top Pentagon official last week called Lin's order a “disgrace.” U.S. Defense Undersecretary Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said on social media it would disrupt Hegseth's “full ability to conduct military operations with the partners it chooses.”
Lin had stayed her order for a week, which gave time for the Pentagon to take the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She had also said her order doesn’t require the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s products or prevent it from transitioning to other AI providers.
Anthropic has also filed a separate and more narrow case that is still pending in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. That case involves a different rule the Pentagon is using to try to declare Anthropic a supply chain risk.
Trump and Hegseth publicly announced their actions against Anthropic on Feb. 27 after negotiations over a defense contract went sour over the company’s attempt to prevent its AI technology from being deployed in fully autonomous weapons or surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon had argued that it should be able to use Claude in any way it deems lawful.
A number of third parties had filed legal briefs supporting Anthropic’s case, including Microsoft, industry trade groups, rank-and-file tech workers, retired U.S. military leaders and a group of Catholic theologians.
FILE - Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logo are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia plans to send a second oil tanker to Cuba, the country’s energy minister said Thursday, citing the island’s ongoing energy blockade and reiterating Russia’s solidarity with the troubled Caribbean nation.
The announcement comes just two days after sanctioned Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin docked at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. Experts have said that shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.
Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilyov spoke on the sidelines of an energy forum in the Russian city of Kazan.
“Cuba is in a total blockade, it’s been cut off. Whose shipment of oil made it? A Russian vessel broke through the blockade. A second one is being loaded right now, we will not leave Cubans alone in trouble,” Tsivilyov said.
In Havana, hundreds of people gathered aboard bicycles, motorcycles and small, three-wheeled vehicles to protest the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
“Yes to Cuba! No to the blockade!” the crowd yelled as it zoomed along Havana's famed seawall, past the U.S. Embassy and toward the downtown area.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other officials watched the march go by but refrained from participating.
“Who’s afraid here? Who is going to surrender here?” some people riding electric scooters shouted.
Among those participating in the protest was 33-year-old Havana resident Yeni López. “We came by bicycle, given the situation the country is facing in the current context, to reaffirm that we will always be present.”
In late January, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba, although he recently said he had “no problem” with the Russian oil tanker that delivered relief to the island on Tuesday, saying he didn't think it would help prop up the Cuban government.
“Cuba’s finished,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington on Sunday. “They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”
Cuba produces barely 40% of its required fuel and relies on imports to sustain its crumbling energy grid.
Critical oil shipments from Venezuela were halted when the U.S. attacked the South American country and arrested its leader.
Since then, Mexico also has halted its oil shipments to Cuba after Trump warned of tariffs.
The U.S. energy blockade has deepened Cuba's energy and economic crises, leading to severe blackouts, cuts to the state-run food ration system, and shortages of water and medicine, with the island's most vulnerable hardest hit.
Associated Press reporter Milexsy Durán in Havana contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Russian-flagged oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin approaches Matanzas in Matanzas, Cuba, Tuesday, March 31, 2026.. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
