D.C. Circuit Upholds Pentagon Blacklist of Anthropic

A split D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld the Pentagon’s designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, keeping Claude out of Defense systems after the company refused to drop contractual bans on lethal autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance. The 2-1 majority said the Department had ample support for treating continued use of Claude as a national-security risk under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act. A California district ruling from August that blocked a parallel designation under a different statute remains in effect, leaving two courts split. Anthropic said it respectfully disagrees and is considering further review.