New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and CEO and co-founder of Anthropic Dario Amodei speak onstage during the 2025 New York Times Dealbook Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Dec. 3, 2025.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday denied Anthropic's request for a stay in its lawsuit against the Department of Defense.
The artificial intelligence startup sought the action to pause its blacklisting by the Pentagon and prevent further monetary and reputational harm as the case unfolds. The ruling comes after a judge in San Francisco federal court late last month, in a separate case, granted Anthropic a preliminary injunction that bars the Trump administration from enforcing a ban on the use of Claude.
The DOD declared Anthropic a supply chain risk in early March, meaning that use of the company's technology purportedly threatens U.S. national security. The label requires defense contractors to certify that they don't use Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence models in their work with the military.
"In our view, the equitable balance here cuts in favor of the government," the appeals court said in its decision. "On one side is a relatively contained risk of financial harm to a single private company. On the other side is judicial management of how, and through whom, the Department of War secures vital AI technology during an active military conflict."
Anthropic had asked the appeals court to review the Pentagon's determination and argued that it's a form of retaliation that is unconstitutional, arbitrary, capricious and not in accord with procedures required by law, according to a filing.
In the ruling on Wednesday, the court acknowledged that Anthropic "will likely suffer some degree of irreparable harm absent a stay," but that the company's interests "seem primarily financial in nature." While the company claimed the DOD was standing in the way of its right to free speech, "Anthropic does not show that its speech has been chilled during the pendency of this litigation," the order said.
The DOD relied on two distinct designations – 10 U.S.C. § 3252 and 41 U.S.C. § 4713 – to justify the supply chain risk action, and they have to be challenged in two separate courts. The 41 U.S.C. § 4713 designation falls under the purview of the appeals court in Washington, D.C.
— CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
WATCH: Anthropic wins preliminary injunction in fight over Pentagon blacklisting
English (US) · 