India, Aug. 28 -- A US federal judge on Thursday ruled that sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on AI firm Anthropic were illegal. The court found that the Pentagon's February order against the artificial intelligence company was meant to punish it for publicly criticising the government.

"The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics," news agency AFP cited Judge Rita Lin's observation from her 59-page decision.

Vacating the company's 'supply-chain risk' designation, the judge ruled that the Department of Defense's actions violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

The court directed the Department of Defense to revoke all guidance, directives, ...