Anthropic has lost its initial legal bid to block the US Defense Department from labelling its products a national security supply chain risk.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the company’s emergency motion, allowing the Pentagon’s designation to remain in place during ongoing litigation.
“In our view, the equitable balance here cuts in favor of the government,”
Said the three-judge panel.
The ruling prioritised national security concerns during an active military conflict over potential financial and reputational damage to Anthropic, effectively restricting contractors from using its AI models.
The dispute stems from a collapsed 2025 agreement to deploy Anthropic’s Claude model on classified networks after the company resisted military uses such as autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.
Anthropic is simultaneously challenging the designation in multiple courts, including a separate case where a California judge temporarily blocked aspects of the government’s actions.
The case highlights growing tensions between AI companies and government authorities over control, ethics, and national security as artificial intelligence becomes central to defence infrastructure.