US Federal Appeals Court Rejects Anthropic's Request to Temporarily Block DoD Blacklist

On Wednesday local time, a federal appeals court in Washington, DC rejected AI company Anthropic's request to temporarily block the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) from blacklisting it. Previously, a federal court in San Francisco had issued a preliminary injunction for Anthropic, prohibiting the Trump administration from enforcing the ban on its Claude model, but the appeals court believed the balance of interests in this case leans more toward the government, involving the DoD's control over access to key AI technologies.

Currently, Anthropic is excluded from DoD contracts but can still cooperate with other government agencies. The company has filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, claiming the supply chain risk designation is illegal. It stated it will continue to resolve the issue through legal channels while committing to constructive cooperation with the government to ensure U.S. citizens benefit from safe and reliable AI.