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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday rejected Anthropic’s request to block the Department of War from blacklisting use of the AI company’s technology, a move that conflicts with an order a different federal court issued last month in a separate lawsuit regarding the same issues.
“In our view, the equitable balance here cuts in favor of the government. On one side is a relatively contained risk of financial harm to a single private company. On the other side is judicial management of how, and through whom, the Department of War secures vital AI technology during an active military conflict. For that reason, we deny Anthropic’s motion for a stay pending review on the merits,” the April 8 order states. “Nonetheless, because Anthropic raises substantial challenges to the determination and will likely suffer some irreparable harm during the pendency of this litigation, we agree with Anthropic that substantial expedition is warranted.”
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday, an Anthropic spokesperson noted, “We’re grateful the court recognized these issues need to be resolved quickly and remain confident the courts will ultimately agree that these supply chain designations were unlawful. While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI.”
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The War Department referred Fox News Digital to a Wednesday social media post from Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“Today’s D.C. Circuit stay allowing the government to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk is a resounding victory for military readiness. Our position has been clear from the start — our military needs full access to Anthropic’s models if its technology is integrated into our sensitive systems. Military authority and operational control belong to the Commander-in-Chief and Department of War, not a tech company,” Blanche noted in the post on X.
The War Department in January requested “unrestricted use” of Anthropic for “all lawful purposes,” but the AI company drew two red lines, saying it would not be used for domestic surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons.
The administration framed the refusal as corporate insubordination, and Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in February that the War Department “has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement.”
President Donald Trump said in February that the U.S. would never allow “the radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars.”
In a February 27 Truth Social post, Trump said he was “directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology.”
“There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels,” Trump indicated in the post.
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War Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed Anthropic in a post on X the same day, declaring that he was “directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security.”
A letter in March notified Anthropic that the War Department had determined that use of the company’s products posed a “supply chain risk,” according to a copy of the letter attached to a court filing.
But then in a case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, a judge issued a preliminary injunction order last month blocking the government from implementing those moves against Anthropic.
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“This Order restores the status quo. It does not bar any Defendant from taking any lawful action that would have been available to it on February 27, 2026, prior to the issuances of the Presidential Directive and the Hegseth Directive and entry of the Supply Chain Designation. For example, this Order does not require the Department of War to use Anthropic’s products or services and does not prevent the Department of War from transitioning to other artificial intelligence providers, so long as those actions are consistent with applicable regulations, statutes, and constitutional provisions,” the March order from U.S. District Judge Rita Lin stated.
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