Pentagon Appeals Ruling Blocking Anthropic Blacklisting; Ninth Circuit Sets April 30 Deadline

The Department of War filed an appeal on April 2 challenging a federal judge's preliminary injunction that barred the Pentagon from classifying Anthropic as a supply-chain risk. Judge Rita Lin had ruled the designation appeared to punish Anthropic for publicly criticizing the government's contracting position rather than serving national security interests. The dispute centers on Anthropic's refusal to grant unrestricted military use of its AI models, particularly for autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance. The Ninth Circuit set an April 30 briefing deadline.