Signal U.S. appeals court upholds Pentagon designation of Anthropic as supply chain risk

Summary

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 to deny Anthropic's petitions against the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas wrote the opinion and Judge Neomi Rao joined it, while Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson dissented. The designation bars the U.S. military and its contractors from using Anthropic's Claude models. The Pentagon applied the label in March and Anthropic sued days later, and because the Pentagon relied on two separate designations the case ran in two courts. In August a federal judge in San Francisco struck down the other designation, so the Friday ruling leaves the second one in place. An Anthropic spokesperson said the company disagrees with the decision and is considering all options, including further review.