US appeals court refuses to block Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic

A US appeals court has declined to temporarily block the Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a national security risk, Reuters reports. The ruling came Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had placed the AI company on a blacklist after Anthropic refused to lift usage restrictions on its AI assistant Claude for surveillance and autonomous weapons.

Anthropic calls the move retaliation for its stance on AI safety and warns of billions in damages. The Justice Department says the decision was based on contract terms.

A California court had ruled in Anthropic's favor in a parallel case in late March. It marks the first time a US company has been publicly designated as a supply chain risk. A final ruling is still pending.