Anthropic's AI can now be treated as a Pentagon security risk, a federal appeals court said Friday. In a 2-1 ruling, the DC Circuit cleared the Trump administration to blacklist the company from Defense Department contracts, backing the Pentagon's finding that Anthropic's Claude models pose a "supply chain risk," Politico reports. The court cited Anthropic's own design choices—built-in limits that block uses like autonomous weapons and mass surveillance—as grounds for concern, saying those restrictions could interfere with military operations.
The decision broadens the executive branch's power to label both US and foreign companies as national security threats, a designation Anthropic says could damage its reputation and cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.
- In an overlapping case in federal court in San Francisco last month, a judge ruled against a wider block on Anthropic doing business with the administration, the Washington Post reports. The government's actions "were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its 'arrogance' in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model," US District Judge Rita Lin wrote.
- "We respectfully disagree with the court's decision," Anthropic said in a statement Friday. "Another federal court has already held the government's parallel designation unlawful. We remain confident in our position and are considering all options, including further review."
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