Court Upholds Pentagon Risk Label on Anthropic
A federal appeals court in Washington has upheld the Pentagon decision to bar AI startup Anthropic from military contracts, according to a report by CNBC cited by The Decoder. The court ruled 2-1 that the Defense Department acted correctly in classifying Anthropic as a national security supply chain risk.
The legal battle stems from Anthropic refusing to permit its artificial intelligence technology to be utilized for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued that the safety restrictions imposed by the company could jeopardize military operations. Anthropic rejected the ruling and stated it is currently weighing its next steps.
The designation has reportedly cost the company billions of dollars and disrupted its planned initial public offering. However, a federal judge in San Francisco previously blocked a parallel classification under a separate law, calling the move unlawful retaliation against the AI safety stance taken by Anthropic.
US intelligence agencies remain heavy users of the company models, leaving an open question regarding how that usage squares with the supply chain risk label. Segments of the technology industry and former military officials have publicly backed Anthropic during the dispute.
Based on reporting by the-decoder.com.
