Appeals court upholds Pentagon designation of Anthropic as supply chain risk

On Sept. 25, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 to uphold the Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk. The designation allows the Pentagon to remove Anthropic's Claude models from its systems and bar use of its products for Defense Department work. Judge Gregory G. Katsas wrote, "The Department reasonably feared that Anthropic might manipulate Claude's design to prevent it from performing national-security functions that the Department deems contractually authorized and necessary."

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Anthropic of endangering national security. CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns about mass surveillance or autonomous armed drones. A California federal judge ruled this summer the Pentagon acted illegally by punishing Anthropic for AI-views criticism; the D.C. case focused on a different rule. The Washington Examiner reported a March listing; AP reported the dispute broke out in February.

An Anthropic spokesperson said the company "respectfully disagrees," that "Another federal court has already held the government's parallel designation unlawful," and "We remain confident in our position and are considering all options, including further review." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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