The US Federal Court of Appeals in Washington has upheld the designation of Anthropic as a national security threat. The ruling was passed by a two-to-one vote, with judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao supporting the decision, while Karen LeCraft Henderson dissented.
The Department of Defense first assigned this status to the startup in March 2026. This followed a conflict between the company and the Pentagon over the use of AI models for battlefield targeting and surveillance, which led to the termination of military contracts.
The court rejected Anthropic's claims that the Pentagon's decision was unconstitutional. Judge Katsas noted that integrating Claude into defense systems poses a legal risk, citing concerns from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth regarding potential AI manipulation or unauthorized system shutdowns.
Anthropic may still request a review by the same panel, a hearing by an expanded judicial panel, or appeal to the US Supreme Court. Consequently, the current verdict has not yet entered into legal force, and the company intends to continue seeking a reversal of the status.
