TechFlow news: On April 9, according to CoinTelegraph, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected AI company Anthropic’s emergency motion, upholding the Department of Defense’s designation of Anthropic as posing a “national security supply chain risk.” The three-judge panel ruled that the government’s interest in regulating AI technologies during military conflicts takes precedence over any potential financial or reputational harm Anthropic might suffer. This designation—previously never applied to a U.S.-based company—will bar Pentagon contractors from using Anthropic’s Claude models.
The dispute originated from a contract signed between the two parties in July 2025; negotiations collapsed in February 2026—when the government demanded Anthropic grant unrestricted military use of Claude, while Anthropic insisted on prohibiting its use in lethal autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance. Subsequently, former President Trump ordered all federal agencies to fully suspend use of Anthropic’s products, prompting Anthropic to file suit in March. The case is currently proceeding simultaneously in both the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
