# DC Appeals Court Denies Anthropic's Bid to Pause Pentagon Supply Chain Blacklisting

_Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 8:12 PM EDT · AI, Policy · Latest · Tier 1 — Major_

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has declined to temporarily block the Department of Defense's national security blacklisting of artificial intelligence company Anthropic. The ruling from a three-judge panel on Wednesday denies the company's request for a stay while it challenges the designation.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision creates conflicting rulings in Anthropic's legal battle against the DOD's supply chain risk label. In March, a California federal judge granted Anthropic a preliminary injunction blocking the designation on the West Coast. The company now faces different legal outcomes depending on jurisdiction.

The Trump administration moved to place Anthropic on a supply chain risk list that restricts how government agencies can use the company's Claude AI models. The designation affects the startup's ability to contract with federal agencies and limits military use of its technology.

Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI researchers including siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, has argued the designation lacks evidence and unfairly targets the company. The startup is one of the leading AI labs competing with OpenAI and Google in developing large language models.

The conflicting court rulings create legal uncertainty for the San Francisco-based company as it navigates both commercial and government markets for its AI products.

## Sources

- [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/08/d-c-circuit-rejects-anthropic-plea-to-pause-supply-chain-risk-label-00864880)

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