Justice Department Asks California Judge To Pause Its Anthropic Appeal

Department of Justice lawyers on Wednesday asked a federal judge in northern California to pause its appeal of a March ruling that temporarily blocked the government from designating the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic as a supply chain risk to national security.

In an eight-page filing, the DOJ asked U.S. District Judge Rita Lin to freeze the appeal — which the DOJ launched earlier this month — until a separate set of judges at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals can rule on a related set of questions regarding the supply chain risk designation against Anthropic.

“At an absolute minimum, the D.C. Circuit’s reasoning is likely to bear on the issues presented in this case, such that it would benefit the parties to await that decision before briefing nearly identical issues in this case,” the DOJ lawyers argued. They said it was possible that the D.C. court’s ruling could ultimately make it unnecessary for Lin to decide on the government’s appeal.

Due to a quirk in federal law, in March Anthropic was forced to file lawsuits in both northern California and the D.C. Circuit when it challenged the government’s actions. On April 8, a three-judge panel at the D.C. Circuit rejected Anthropic’s request to pause the supply chain risk designation, causing a court split. The D.C. Circuit agreed to an expedited schedule for a ruling on the merits and set oral arguments for May 19.

The DOJ’s lawyers said Anthropic’s legal team did not consent to the motion, but intends to file a written response with the court once it has reviewed the government’s filing. An Anthropic spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government’s move to pause its appeal comes as federal agencies work to gain greater access to Anthropic’s powerful new Mythos AI model — an effort complicated by the Defense Department’s designation of the AI startup as a supply chain risk, as well as the formerly heated rhetoric deployed by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against the company.

On Friday, top White House officials met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to discuss potential cybersecurity risks posed by Mythos. And on Tuesday, Trump told CNBC that Anthropic executives are “very smart people” and that a deal with the company is “possible.”

Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.