On October 13, 2026, Anthropic asked the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear its challenge against the Pentagon's national security supply-chain risk designation. A 2-1 panel previously upheld the March 2026 blacklisting, which barred defense contractors from using Anthropic's Claude AI models. Anthropic claims Pete Hegseth's Defense Department retaliated against its public AI safety commitments prohibiting mass surveillance and lethal autonomous warfare.
Anthropic petitions full court for rehearing
- ▪Anthropic argued in its October 13, 2026 petition that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ignored evidence showing the Pentagon's March 2026 risk designation was retaliation for the company's public statements on AI safety
- ▪Anthropic filed a petition on October 13, 2026 asking the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rehear its appeal against the Pentagon's March 2026 supply chain risk blacklisting
Pentagon designation and initial court ruling
- ▪A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Pentagon's March 2026 blacklisting of Anthropic in a 2-1 decision on September 25, 2026
- ▪The Department of Defense, led by Pete Hegseth, designated Anthropic as a national-security supply chain risk in March 2026, barring defense contractors from using Anthropic technology in military work
Contract disputes and policy disagreements
- ▪Contract negotiations between Anthropic and the Department of Defense collapsed in September during discussions to deploy Claude AI models on the Pentagon's GenAI.mil platform
- ▪The conflict between the Pentagon and Anthropic originated from Anthropic's refusal to allow its Claude AI models to be used for mass surveillance of Americans or lethal autonomous warfare
Debatable claims
- ▪Designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk without prior administrative process violates due process
- ▪The full D.C. Circuit should rehear Anthropic's appeal against the Pentagon blacklist
- ▪The Pentagon's supply chain risk designation of Anthropic constitutes unlawful retaliation against protected speech
- ▪Refusing military applications renders a commercial AI vendor a genuine national security risk
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