Anthropic asked the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to rehear its case against the Pentagon’s designation of the AI company as a national security supply chain risk. The request challenges a ruling that upheld the designation, imposed after a dispute over safety restrictions on Anthropic’s technology. The company said the designation has cost it billions of dollars in lost business.

In September, a federal appeals court upheld the Pentagon’s decision in a 2-1 ruling. The majority agreed that Anthropic’s safety restrictions could compromise military operations and said the Pentagon acted reasonably after the company refused to let its AI be used in autonomous weapons or mass surveillance. The court also rejected Anthropic’s claim that the Defense Department retaliated against it for its views on AI safety.

In its rehearing petition, Anthropic argued that the majority misread a federal law intended to address hostile foreign actors and extended it to government contractors generally. The company said the Pentagon was allowed to act without a pre-designation process, despite what Anthropic called straightforward evidence that the decision retaliated against its speech on AI safety. In a separate lawsuit in August, a federal judge in California struck down a parallel designation under a different law. CEO Dario Amodei has called for regulation covering all US frontier AI companies, while the Trump administration has favored a pro-growth approach.

Anthropic asked the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to rehear its case against the Pentagon’s designation of the AI company as a national security supply chain risk. The request challenges a ruling that upheld the designation, imposed after a dispute over safety restrictions on Anthropic’s technology. The company said the designation has cost it billions of dollars in lost business.

In September, a federal appeals court upheld the Pentagon’s decision in a 2-1 ruling. The majority agreed that Anthropic’s safety restrictions could compromise military operations and said the Pentagon acted reasonably after the company refused to let its AI be used in autonomous weapons or mass surveillance. The court also rejected Anthropic’s claim that the Defense Department retaliated against it for its views on AI safety.

In its rehearing petition, Anthropic argued that the majority misread a federal law intended to address hostile foreign actors and extended it to government contractors generally. The company said the Pentagon was allowed to act without a pre-designation process, despite what Anthropic called straightforward evidence that the decision retaliated against its speech on AI safety. In a separate lawsuit in August, a federal judge in California struck down a parallel designation under a different law. CEO Dario Amodei has called for regulation covering all US frontier AI companies, while the Trump administration has favored a pro-growth approach.