A federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration acted lawfully in designating AI company Anthropic PBC as a supply-chain risk to US national security. In a 2-1 decision, a divided panel of judges rejected the company's challenge, finding that the Pentagon had ample support for its conclusion. This ruling allows the administration to bar the AI developer from receiving Pentagon contracts.
The dispute began in February when Anthropic refused to remove restrictions regarding the use of its AI, Claude, for fully autonomous weapons. The company has consistently refused to allow its products to be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance, which led to the blacklisting by the Department of Defense.
While the court upheld the designation, an earlier ruling that lifted the ban appears to remain in place for now. These conflicting court rulings continue to complicate Anthropic's ties with the Trump administration, despite the AI lab's arguments that its rights had been violated.