Anthropic Seeks Rehearing on Pentagon's 'National Security Supply Chain Risk' Label

What happened

Anthropic on Tuesday asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a rehearing to overturn the ruling that upheld the Pentagon's designation. The petition argues the September panel majority misread and transformed a federal law aimed at hostile foreign actors into one covering nearly every government contractor.

Anthropic also said the court let the Pentagon act against it without any pre-designation process, despite straightforward evidence the designation was retaliation for its speech on AI safety. The company has previously said the Pentagon blacklisting has cost it billions of dollars in lost business, Reuters reported.

Key facts

1. Case: Anthropic's challenge to the Pentagon's 'national security supply chain risk' designation, now seeking rehearing at the DC Circuit (Oct 14, 2026)
2. Prior ruling: In September the court upheld the designation 2-1, finding the Pentagon acted reasonably after Anthropic refused AI use in autonomous weapons or mass surveillance, and rejecting the retaliation claim
3. Losses: Anthropic says the blacklisting has cost it billions in lost business
4. Second front: In August a California federal judge struck down a parallel designation under a different law
5. Backdrop: CEO Dario Amodei has called for regulation covering all US frontier AI companies, while the Trump administration favors a pro-growth approach