{"slug": "us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic", "title": "US court upholds Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic", "summary": "A US appeals court on Friday upheld the Defense Department's supply chain risk designation that blacklists Anthropic, a decision that cancels the AI startup's military contracts and bars other Pentagon contractors from using its Claude technology. The conflict began in February when Anthropic refused Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth's demand to remove restrictions on Claude's use for fully autonomous lethal weapons and mass domestic surveillance of Americans, and Anthropic says the March designation has cost it billions of dollars in lost business ahead of a highly anticipated IPO. The ruling creates a potential legal conflict with a separate federal court decision in California last month that found a broader Trump administration ban against Anthropic illegal; an Anthropic spokesperson said, \"We respectfully disagree with the court's decision.", "body_md": "# US court upholds Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic\n\n*Conflict began in February when Anthropic refused to remove restrictions on use of Claude for fully autonomous weapons.*\n\nA United States appeals court has upheld the Defense Department’s decision to exclude Anthropic from its supply chain, a decision taken when the AI startup refused to remove certain safeguards on its Claude model.\n\nThe court issued its ruling on Friday.\n\n## Recommended Stories\n\nlist of 4 items\n- list 1 of 4[Why is Canada’s PM Carney not ruling out a possible war with the US](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/25/why-canada-is-not-ruling-out-a-possible-war-with-the-us)\n- list 2 of 4[Man City found guilty on almost all 115 Premier League charges: Report](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/9/25/man-city-found-guilty-on-almost-all-115-premier-league-charges-report)\n- list 3 of 4[China swimmer makes Asian Games history as Thai sprinter wins track 100m](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/9/25/china-swimmer-makes-asian-games-history-as-thai-sprinter-wins-track-100m)\n- list 4 of 4[Trump hails ‘very productive’ talks with China’s Xi](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/25/trump-hails-very-productive-talks-with-chinas-xi)\n\nThe conflict began in February when Anthropic refused Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demand to remove restrictions on the use of Claude for fully autonomous lethal weapons and mass domestic surveillance of Americans.\n\nThe [supply chain risk designation](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/3/9/anthropic-sues-trump-administration-to-undo-us-supply-chain-risk-tag), made in March, cancelled Anthropic’s military contracts and barred other Defense Department contractors from using its technology.\n\nAnthropic has said the blacklisting has cost it billions of dollars in lost business and damaged its reputation ahead of a highly anticipated initial public offering.\n\nThe designation against Anthropic marked a highly unusual application of the authority against a US company.\n\nThe company has since become a pariah at the White House, even as it plays a major role in the highly crucial AI sector and heads for a blockbuster IPO expected in the coming weeks.\n\nThe White House has bristled at Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s repeated warnings about the dangers of AI, with US President Donald Trump calling them a hoax.\n\nThe appeals court decision created a potential legal conflict with a [separate federal court decision](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/28/us-judge-blocks-pentagon-blacklisting-of-ai-firm-anthropic) in California last month that found a broader ban imposed by the Trump administration against Anthropic was illegal.\n\nThe Pentagon decision upheld on Friday was based on public procurement regulations and now remains in effect.\n\n“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision. 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,” an Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement to US media.\n\nThe military had reportedly been using Claude across a range of classified and sensitive systems, including during the January operation that captured and deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic", "canonical_source": "https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/9/25/us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic?traffic_source=rss", "published_at": "2026-09-25 17:03:52+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-25 17:31:38.978653+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-safety", "ai-startups"], "entities": ["Anthropic", "US Department of Defense", "Claude", "Pete Hegseth", "Dario Amodei", "Donald Trump", "White House", "Nicolas Maduro"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-court-upholds-pentagons-blacklisting-of-anthropic.jsonld"}}