Trump administration appeals Anthropic ruling
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The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge's order temporarily blocking the Pentagon's ban on Anthropic, per a filing on Thursday.
Why it matters: The appeal escalates a high-stakes fight that could reshape how the government works with AI companies.
- The Trump administration isn't giving up its fight against Anthropic any time soon, even as there's been chatter that the deal could get revived.
Driving the news: Government lawyers for the Justice Department filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the Pentagon on Thursday.
- Anthropic and the Pentagon have been at odds for months after a deal for the government to use Claude collapsed over the company's red lines for the technology.
Context: A federal judge last week temporarily paused the Trump administration's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk in an early legal win for the company.
- Anthropic said the designation was causing immediate and irreparable harm as business partners rethink their contracts and federal agencies remove Claude.
- A parallel case is ongoing in a D.C. court.
- Anthropic is arguing in both proceedings that the Pentagon is violating the First Amendment and procurement law, while the Defense Department says that the dispute is about the military's ability to use the technology, not speech.
The supply chain risk designation is typically reserved for foreign adversaries that pose a national security risk and effectively bars companies from using Claude in work tied to the Defense Department.
