Anthropic Asks Full D.C. Circuit Court to Rehear Pentagon Blacklist Appeal
Anthropic is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rehear its legal challenge against a Pentagon designation labeling the artificial intelligence company a national security supply chain risk. The October 13 petition argues that a divided appeals panel overlooked straightforward evidence that the Department of Defense retaliated against the company for its public safety commitments regarding autonomous warfare and mass surveillance, CNBC reported.
The dispute centers on a conflict over how the military can deploy Anthropic’s Claude AI models. The Defense Department applied the supply chain risk label in March, blocking defense contractors from utilizing the company’s technology in their agency work. That action followed a breakdown in negotiations that began after Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon in July 2025 and subsequently attempted to negotiate the deployment of its models on the military’s GenAI.mil platform that September.
Legal Battle and Lower Court Rulings
The legal fight intensified after the D.C. Circuit upheld the Pentagon’s blacklisting in a 2-1 decision in September. The majority rejected Anthropic’s argument that the ban was arbitrary, unauthorized, and unconstitutional. In its rehearing petition, the company’s attorneys contend that the court ignored clear evidence that the designation punished the firm for speaking out about AI safety.
That outcome contrasts with a parallel case in August, when a San Francisco federal judge ruled that the Defense Department violated Anthropic’s First Amendment rights and that the supply chain risk designation amounted to illegal retaliation. The Pentagon’s actions followed the company’s refusal to permit its models to be used for lethal autonomous warfare or mass surveillance of Americans.
Appeals Court Rehearing Implications
The rehearing request places Anthropic’s allegation of retaliation for AI-safety speech directly before the full appeals court, as detailed by RuntimeWire. The outcome of the petition could shape how federal procurement authority applies when an AI supplier’s public commitments and product restrictions conflict with military demands. Representatives for Anthropic declined to comment beyond the court filings, while a Pentagon spokesperson stated that the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation.