The standoff between United States AI company Anthropic and the federal government has exposed the hegemonic logic underpinning Washington's approach to the technology, permeating both application and governance, experts say.

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Pentagon from labeling Anthropic as a "supply chain risk", issuing a preliminary injunction that put the move on hold.

Judge Rita Lin of the District Court for the Northern District of California said she was also blocking the White House's directive ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's technology.

The actions have paused the federal government's ban until the court rules on the merits of the case, but will not take effect for seven days to give the administration time to appeal.

Anthropic sued the US government earlier this month after it was designated a "supply chain risk to national security" because it refused to give the government unfettered access to its AI models without safeguards against use in autonomous weapons or mass surveillance.

Dario Amodei, cofounder and chief executive of the company, said in a blog post in January that he is more concerned about the reliability of the technology and the threat of it being consolidated by too small a number of people with "fingers on the button" who could control an autonomous drone army.

In the ruling, Lin wrote, "Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the government's contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation."

Applauding the judge's decision, the company said it was "grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits".

He Yun, a researcher at Tsinghua University's Belt and Road Institute and an associate professor of Hunan University's School of Public Administration, said the US government's invocation of "supply chain risks" to pressure corporate ethical stances reflects a broader trend of expanding and instrumentalizing "national security".

In recent years, the US has seamlessly woven economic competition and technological leadership into its national security framework, she said.

Consequently, she explained, any corporate behavior that diverges from its military or geopolitical goals may be deemed a "risk".

"When the so-called principle of freedom clashes with Washington's geopolitical hegemonic objectives, it is readily sacrificed in favor of the latter," she added.

Lang Ping, head of the Department of Security Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics, said this dispute underscores the US government's increasingly assertive posture and unilateral tendencies in the field of AI.

'Monopoly position'

As a global leader in AI, the US views competition in this field as a "high-stakes economic and geopolitical race", Lang said.

"The US has persistently pursued a monopoly position in the global AI sector, rallying allies to develop a coordinated technological ecosystem while promoting the export of full-stack systems, with the aim of shaping a market structure centered on its own leadership," she said.

"China, as the world's second-largest economy and a leading force in AI, has actively taken part in and helped shape global AI governance, positioning itself as both a proponent and practitioner of cooperative governance frameworks," she added.

Lang mentioned that in response to the current AI governance landscape, which is marked by diversity and multipolar competition, China has proposed the Global Initiative on AI Governance and the Global Action Plan on AI Governance, offering the international community an inclusive "Chinese solution".

China advocates consultation, cooperation and shared benefits in AI governance, she said.

To balance power, regulation and development, the country upholds a people-centered approach and the principle of "AI for good", aiming to inject stability into an uncertain landscape while promoting AI development that benefits the global community, she added.

China also asserts that all countries, regardless of their size or strength, have an equal right to develop and utilize AI, He from Tsinghua University said.

The country advocates the creation of an inclusive and equitable global governance system within the United Nations framework, with a particular focus on enhancing the representation and capacity-building of developing countries to bridge the "digital divide", she said.

In contrast, US policy shows a pronounced inclination toward securitization and bloc-based strategies, she said.

"This approach relies heavily on unilateral actions and bloc-based divisions, potentially leading to the fragmentation of global AI supply chains and innovation ecosystems, thereby exacerbating inequality and increasing the risk of confrontation," she said.

Agencies contributed to this story.

liujianqiao@chinadaily.com.cn