Anthropic filed for IPO and was appealed by the U.S. Department of Justice on the same day

The U.S. Department of Justice submitted a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, attempting to overturn the ruling made by a California court in August, which restored a full federal agency ban against the developer of Claude, Anthropic. On October 26, local time, Anthropic publicly submitted its IPO prospectus, and on the same day, the U.S. Department of Justice filed the aforementioned appeal.

In September, the Washington appellate court allowed the Pentagon to exclude Claude from military systems and related defense procurement on the grounds of supply chain risks. The California court had previously blocked a broader ban that not only required all federal agencies to stop using Claude but also prohibited defense contractors from engaging in non-military commercial cooperation with Anthropic. The judge believed that the government lacked sufficient evidence to prove the associated risks, and the ban was essentially retaliation against Anthropic for publicly criticizing the government.

The prospectus shows that government agency contract revenue accounts for only about 1% of Anthropic's total revenue. Evidence cited by the California court indicated that three government contractors terminated their contracts with Anthropic or were asked to cease cooperation, and three deals worth over $180 million, which were close to being finalized, fell through. Some clients requested the addition of unilateral termination clauses, while others turned to competitors. Anthropic had previously estimated to the court that if the broadest ban were fully implemented, revenue could decrease by billions of dollars by 2026.