US Appeals Court Upholds Trump's Blacklisting of Anthropic Technology

<p>A US appeals court approved the Trump administration's decision to blacklist Anthropic technology. The judges determined that the US had the authority to blacklist Anthropic for not providing certain AI features, regardless of whether Anthropic had any malicious intent.</p><p>In a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42923/gov.uscourts.cadc.42923.1208891909.0_1.pdf">2-1 ruling</a> issued by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the panel stated that the "case raises profoundly difficult questions about the appropriate military uses of an almost unimaginably powerful new technology." The ruling highlighted concerns that overly constrained AI models could lead to unexpected shutdowns, potentially causing critical military operations to fail. Conversely, it also noted the risks of unconstrained AI models generating inappropriate targets for military action.</p><p>The court stated that Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth must find a balance between these competing risks. It concluded that the Secretary did not exceed his authority under the Supply Chain Security Act or the Constitution, thus denying the petitions for review. Previously, the same court <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/trump-appointed-judges-refuse-to-block-trump-blacklisting-of-anthropic-ai-tech/">denied</a> Anthropic's emergency motion for a stay in April.</p>