During a Thursday hearing, a judge said the Trump administration hasn’t presented enough evidence to justify labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk and banning the federal government from using the company’s technology.

Bloomberg and Axios were among the first to report the news. 

The dispute stems from stalled contract negotiations between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. Anthropic said it didn’t want its AI used for mass surveillance of Americans or for targeting or firing decisions involving lethal weapons, arguing the technology wasn’t ready. The Pentagon countered that a private company shouldn’t dictate how the military uses technologies, and said it would use the tools in “lawful” ways.

The government has also argued that Anthropic’s public criticism of the DoD justifies the ban — logic that U.S. District Judge Rita Lin called “really troubling,” warning it could set a precedent of retaliating against federal contractors who disagree with the administration. 

The DOD further claimed Anthropic could potentially disable or alter its AI models during warfighting operations — a claim that experts say lacks evidence. Lin agreed, saying she saw no proof Anthropic could alter a delivered model or “flip some kind of kill switch.”

Thursday’s hearing was part of one of two lawsuits Anthropic filed against the DOD in March, challenging the ban and risk designation. The other is being heard in Washington. 

Lin, who temporarily blocked the ban in March, is now weighing whether to make that order permanent. 

Two years ago, tech founder Avi Schiffmann launched Friend, an AI wearable that you could talk to, and that would send you text messages about your day. The idea, ostensibly, was to use artificial intelligence to combat loneliness. This week, the company announced a new overhaul of the product, introducing a noticeable upgrade: a voice.

“Introducing friend 2.0,” Schiffmann tweeted Thursday. Friend now comes with a built-in speaker that can project a unique and consistent personality to its user.

A new commercial for the wearable shows a woman wearing a Friend and talking to it about what is presumably her ex-girlfriend. “It’s not bad to be gay,” the necklace tells her.

The video then switches to a man standing on a hillside discussing his filmmaking ambitions with his Friend. “That last film you made was insane!” the necklace compliments him.

The new retail price for this enhanced version of Friend is $249, which is substantially higher than the $99 price tag it had when it initially launched two years ago.

What can you really do with your Friend other than chit chat about your day? That part is still unclear. In another recent post on X, Schiffmann expounded upon what he felt the whole point of his weird product actually is.

“I am interested in this kind of relationship in attempting to offer, some kind of confidant, friend, God, not really sure what it is,” Schiffmann said. “But it is not an assistant, and it is not a lover.”

Interesting! Selling a plastic, algorithm-based necklace to people by insinuating it might, in fact, be a deity, is pretty bold marketing.

Of course, Schiffmann’s company has engaged in bold marketing before. Friend’s billboard campaign in the New York City subway system last year went viral after they were continually defaced, presumably by people who didn’t want human connection to be replaced by a digitized amulet.

Most AI wearables have failed to catch on with the mainstream — at least so far. The offering most similar to Friend was Humane Inc., which sought to replace the iPhone with its AI pin but had to shut down its business in less than a year after poor sales.