By 2-1, an appeals court upheld the Pentagon's national security risk designation of Anthropic, barring it from military contracts. Anthropic refused to remove safeguards blocking Claude's use for fully autonomous lethal weapons and mass domestic surveillance.
The majority opinion, written by Judge Gregory Katsas and joined by Judge Neomi Rao, said the Pentagon had “ample support” for its conclusion; Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson dissented. Defense officials cited an Anthropic executive's questioning of a contractor's Claude use during a military operation as evidence that the system was too unpredictable for military reliance. Media reports in the case record identified the mission as the January 3 operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the designation on March 3, canceling Anthropic's existing military contracts and barring other Pentagon contractors from using its technology. In August, California Judge Rita Lin ruled a broader, parallel Trump administration ban unconstitutional, describing it as retaliation meant to make a public example of Anthropic. Anthropic said it disagreed with the appeals ruling and cited the California decision; whether it will seek rehearing or take the case to the Supreme Court remains unclear.
