Anthropic seeks rehearing of case over Pentagon’s security risk branding

Anthropic, an AI company, requested on Tuesday for a reconsideration of a ruling by a US appeals court that deemed it a national security risk for the Pentagon. The initial decision, made in September, backed the Pentagon's classification, claiming that Anthropic's safety guardrails on its technology could jeopardize military operations.

The Pentagon's move has resulted in significant financial losses for Anthropic, estimated at billions of dollars. The court's majority opined that the Pentagon acted reasonably, following Anthropic's refusal to permit its AI to be utilized in autonomous weapons or mass surveillance. The court dismissed Anthropic's claim of retaliation by the Defense Department over its stance on AI safety.

Anthropic has now petitioned the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, to review the issue, arguing that the court majority misinterpreted a federal law meant for hostile foreign actors and applied it to every government contractor. The court had earlier permitted the Pentagon to take action against Anthropic without following a pre-designation process, despite clear evidence suggesting that the designation was retaliation for Anthropic's speech about AI safety.

In a separate case, a federal judge in California recently overturned a similar designation under a different law. Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, has called for comprehensive regulation of all US frontier AI companies, while the Trump administration has advocated for a pro-growth approach.