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U.S. appeals court upholds designation of Anthropic as supply chain risk

499 points · 900 comments · cramer4next

  1. HarHarVeryFunny · · focus · HN ↗
    Supply chain risk seems a massive over-reaction, but understandable that the government doesn't want to commit to Anthropic controlled software for any critical military application if they can't 100% rely on Anthropic support in being able to use it as they see fit.
    1. noahbp · · focus · HN ↗
      Anthropic has no control over their deployed models in classified environments. That is managed by Palantir and government clouds. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theregister.com&#x2F;software&#x2F;2026&#x2F;04&#x2F;01&#x2F;claude-codes-source-reveals-extent-of-system-access&#x2F;5222658#:~:text=Anthropic%20does,model%2E%22" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theregister.com&#x2F;software&#x2F;2026&#x2F;04&#x2F;01&#x2F;claude-codes...

      This is not an abstract disagreement at all. The red lines that the Department of War wanted to cross were made extremely clear: They want to build Skynet with Claude, and build a mass domestic surveillance system. Now they will have to make do with building those two systems with Gemini and ChatGPT.

      1. mpyne · · focus · HN ↗
        &gt; The red lines that the Department of War wanted to cross were made extremely clear: They want to build Skynet with Claude, and build a mass domestic surveillance system.

        They claim they want to use AI for &quot;any lawful purpose&quot;. They didn&#x27;t go further to say that they want to build either Skynet or engage in mass surveillance.

        Anthropic wanted the DoW to specifically disclaim those things, and the DoW position is that it will not disclaim any specific mission set that it&#x27;s legally allowed to engage in, whether that&#x27;s Skynet, targeting, surveillance, or anything else. Not for Anthropic, not for any contractor.

        But refusing to disclaim a mission isn&#x27;t the same as saying you want to do, just like refusing to answer &quot;when did you stop beating your wife?&quot; doesn&#x27;t mean you&#x27;re beating your wife.

        Is the DoW response to this tiff over the top? Sure, but it&#x27;s also not 100% political either, I&#x27;ve run into many government bureaucrats who love bureaucratic knife fights like this.

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