US court sides with Pentagon in Anthropic AI ban

The US appeals court ruled in favor of the Pentagon on Friday, maintaining its decision to ban AI startup Anthropic from its supply chain. The conflict began in February when Anthropic refused to remove certain safeguards on its Claude model, which the Pentagon wanted to use for fully autonomous lethal weapons and domestic surveillance of Americans.

The supply chain risk designation, made in March, canceled Anthropic's military contracts and barred other Pentagon contractors from using its technology. The military had been utilizing Claude across classified and sensitive systems. An Anthropic executive reportedly raised concerns about Claude's use by Palantir during a military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.

This sparked alarm and raised doubts about Claude's potential to cause dangerous actions that could put warfighters' lives in jeopardy, according to Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael. Anthropic maintains that it cannot modify its models once they are delivered to the military, but the company does determine the behavior of each new version, and the Pentagon must stay updated on the latest offerings.

Judge Gregory Katsas, writing for two of the three appellate judges, stated that in a Republic, it is the President and the Secretary of Defense who must determine how to balance risks. The Pentagon immediately turned to its competitors, with OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft signing agreements soon after Anthropic's ban. Anthropic has become an outcast at the White House, despite its crucial role in the AI sector and plans for a billion-dollar IPO.

The White House has criticized Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's warnings about AI dangers, with former President Donald Trump dismissing them as hoaxes. The appeals court decision conflicts with a federal court ruling in California that found a broader ban imposed on Anthropic by the Trump administration to be illegal, and Anthropic is considering further legal action.