From today's order by Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Gregory Katsas, and Neomi Rao in Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Dep't of War:
Anthropic PBC develops Claude, a family of advanced artificial-intelligence models. In 2024, the Department of Defense (which now calls itself the Department of War) began using Claude in connection with various military operations.
But on March 3, 2026, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth determined that procuring AI goods or services from Anthropic presents a supply-chain risk to national security under 41 U.S.C. § 4713. The impetus for the determination was Anthropic's refusal to contractually authorize the Department to use Claude for mass domestic surveillance or lethal autonomous warfare. As a result, the Department has canceled its contracts with Anthropic, begun to remove Claude from its systems, and prohibited its other contractors from using Anthropic as a subcontractor on work performed for the Department. The Department has not prohibited contractors from using Claude for work performed for entities other than the Department.
Anthropic seeks review of the Secretary's determination under section 4713 to bar the company from providing goods or services to the Department. It claims that the determination was contrary to law, unconstitutional, and arbitrary. Anthropic seeks a stay pending review on the merits or, in the alternative, expedited consideration of the merits.
