Comments so far seem to be focusing on the rejection without considering the stated reasons for rejection. AFAICT Alsup is saying that the problems are procedural (how do payouts happen, does the agreement indemnify Anthropic from civil “double jeopardy”, etc), not that he’s rejecting the negotiated payout. Definitely not a lawyer but it seems to me like the negotiators could address the rejection without changing any dollar numbers.

Yes, exactly. The article is pretty clear that it’s rejected without prejudice and that a few points need to be ironed out before he gives a preliminary approval. I suspect a lot of folks didn’t read much/any of TFA.

I do wonder if all of the kinks will be smoothed out in time. Not a lawyer too, but the timeline to create the longer list is a bit tight, and generally feels like we could see an actual rejection or at least a stretched out process here that goes on for a few more months at least before approval.

Exactly. The judge is doing exactly what he's designed to do in a civil case -- help forge an agreement between the parties that doesn't come back to bite anyone in the future. The last thing a judge wants is a case getting reopened and relitigated a year from now because there was a "bug" in the settlement.