A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has rejected Anthropic’s request to temporarily stop the Department of Defense (DOD) from blacklisting the artificial intelligence company. This ruling comes as a lawsuit challenging the ban continues.
This decision follows a separate but related case in a San Francisco federal court late last month. In that instance, a judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a ban on the use of Anthropic’s Claude AI model.
The appeals court stated, “We believe the balance here favors the government.” They explained that on one side there’s a relatively small financial risk to a single private company, while on the other, there’s the government’s need to manage how it gets crucial AI technology during an ongoing military conflict. Because of this, they denied Anthropic’s request to pause the ban while the case is reviewed.
With these differing court decisions, Anthropic cannot get contracts with the DOD. However, it can still work with other government agencies while the legal battle plays out. Defense contractors cannot use Claude for their military-related projects, but they can use it for other tasks.
The DOD labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk in early March, claiming that using the company’s technology threatens U.S. national security. This means defense contractors must confirm they don’t use Anthropic’s Claude AI models in their work with the military. Anthropic had asked the appeals court to review the Pentagon’s decision, arguing it was retaliation, unconstitutional, unfair, and didn’t follow proper legal procedures.
In its ruling, the court admitted that Anthropic “will likely suffer some harm without a pause,” but that the company’s concerns “seem mostly about money.” While Anthropic claimed the DOD was hindering its right to free speech, the court said, “Anthropic does not show that its speech has been silenced during this lawsuit.”
Because Anthropic is likely to suffer harm, the appeals court said the case should be handled quickly. An Anthropic spokesperson said they are “grateful the court recognized these issues need to be resolved quickly” and are “confident the courts will ultimately agree that these supply chain designations were unlawful.”
Todd Blanche, the acting U.S. attorney general, called the decision a “resounding victory for military readiness,” on X, stating that military authority belongs to the government, not a tech company.
