I do love a gadget, so this mini 20000mAh power bank from Inui really caught my eye. I can’t say it’s the smallest in the world, but it’s certainly ultra-compact and travel-friendly, with a built-in flashlight and USB-C cable that doubles as carry handle.

• Best for: Professionals, students, and travelers who want enough capacity for several phone charges without carrying a separate USB-C cable.

• The deal: The Iniu mini portable charger is now $27 (was $33) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: A 20,000mAh battery provides considerably more endurance than smaller pocket-sized power banks, while 22.5W output offers relatively quick phone charging. The portable unit also features a display, and a flashlight.

Why we recommend it

Its 22.5W fast charging can top up compatible phones much faster than basic 5W or 10W battery packs. Iniu claims an iPhone 16 can reach 60% and a Samsung Galaxy S25 70% in 25 minutes. The built-in flashlight is a useful feature, and the digital display makes it easier to judge when it’s time to plug in the charger.

For more shopping options, take a look at our roundup of the best power chargers.

Should you buy it?

We’re big fans of the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2, which combines a 2,042Wh LiFePO4 battery with enough output to run demanding appliances and equipment.

Best for: Homeowners and campers who need enough stored power to run appliances and equipment rather than simply top up portable electronics.

The deal: The Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 is now $899 (was $999) at Amazon. In the UK, the power station is now £899 (was £1061).

Why it matters: This is the power station that saved our sanity (and our hunger) during power outages when we tested out this unit. Its combination of 2,042Wh capacity and 2,200W output means it can handle much more demanding equipment than smaller portable batteries.

Why we recommend it

In his recent 4.5-star review, our expert Owain said he found it “to be easy to use, simple to transport, and more than capable of dealing with everyday needs.”

It impressed him for several reasons. “Firstly, the build quality and easy setup stand out, limiting setup stress and giving you peace of mind. I also really liked the amount of power you get from such a small and portable unit. I used it extensively in different scenarios, including working, running home appliances, and during a camping trip, and it never even got close to running out. “

The Explorer 2000 v2 provides a lot of AC power across three outlets. Jackery uses a LiFePO4 battery for a service life of up to 10 years. Cell-to-Body construction helps keep the unit relatively compact at 13.2 x 10.4 x 11.5 inches and 39.5lb. There’s also a 100W USB-C PD connection for fast charging compatible laptops, phones and other electronics without needing their regular power adapters.

Price context & historical value

The reduction from $999 to $898.99 knocks $100.01 off the regular price. That’s not close to being its cheapest price however. I’ve seen it for as low as $743.83 on Amazon earlier in the year, and it may well be reduced further for this upcoming Black Friday.

For more options, take a look at our roundup of the best portable power stations.

What once started as a health companion and second screen on your wrist has turned into something a lot more useful. Over the years, smartwatches have continued to become smarter, and their health tracking features are even more accurate. So after reviewing wearables for years, I got used to each new smartwatch generation having just a few polishes and updates.

But Huawei managed to have me obsessed with one of its latest models–and it’s the strap that has my attention. Packed on the underside of the strap is a thin inflatable bladder that runs along the inside of the band. Start a blood-pressure measurement, and that bladder begins expanding against your wrist, tightening in a way that’s familiar to how a doctor wraps a cuff around your upper arm.

This might make the Huawei Watch D3 sound like a thick and heavy wearable tech. But in reality, the Watch D3 is only 11.3mm thick, weighs just over 70 grams with its strap, and has a 1.92-inch AMOLED display. Huawei has also narrowed the inflatable section and made the strap 7.5 grams lighter than before. The blood-pressure feature is fascinating, as the company isn’t making it a software feature.

How does a blood pressure cuff fit inside a watch?

The trick starts with what Huawei calls its 2-in-1 strap-airbag. Rather than having a normal watch band sitting flush against your skin, part of the D3’s strap contains a thin mechanical airbag. When a measurement begins, the watch pumps air into that chamber, causing it to expand inward and apply pressure around your wrist.

Huawei uses the oscillometric method, the same broad measurement principle used by many electronic blood-pressure cuffs. A high-precision pressure sensor works alongside Huawei’s TruSense system to detect the pressure changes created by your pulse while the airbag is inflated. From those changes, the system calculates systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Again, this is a proper mechanism that doesn’t rely purely on an optical sensor and an algorithm to infer your blood pressure. You can see it in the photos I took. The strap may look unusually thick, but that’s only because it was inflated to take a BP reading. Put the watch on, and that extra material pretty much disappears. You don’t particularly feel it out of place compared to your usual strap. Once you start the measurement, you can physically feel the pressure build as the bladder expands.

Even taking the reading has a very specific posture

To make things as accurate as possible, Huawei gives you some tips for the best possible results, and it starts with your posture. Your watch arm should be steady, elbow bent with your palm facing your chest, while the wrist and palm remain relaxed. It also needs you to support that elbow with your other hand so the Watch D3 sits roughly level with your heart.

Your feet should be flat on the floor and uncrossed, and you’re supposed to remain quiet and avoid moving your fingers, arm, or body while the cuff is working. I was explaining the watch to a friend when taking a measurement, and the Watch D3 promptly told me to pipe down. You can see the posture in the images I’ve shared.

The watch is trying to recreate, on your wrist, the controlled conditions that make a conventional cuff useful. Huawei even asks users to enter their wrist circumference so the watch can match the correct airbag size, with separate M and L strap-airbags supplied for wrists between 130mm and 210mm. So there’s a lot more thought put into this to avoid any kind of misreading. Health is a pretty serious matter for many, so avoiding any false results is key here.

Huawei is doing something very different from Apple and Samsung

Apple’s current Watch implementation looks for patterns associated with hypertension using its optical heart sensor over a 30-day evaluation period. It does not give you an on-demand systolic and diastolic measurement. If the Watch flags possible hypertension, Apple specifically recommends using a third-party cuff for seven days and discussing the results with a healthcare professional.

Samsung goes further. Compatible Galaxy Watches can produce blood-pressure values, but the system first needs to be calibrated against an upper-arm cuff, including three measurements during initial calibration, and Samsung requires recalibration every 28 days. Huawei’s solution, on the other hand, is mechanical by comparison. Sure, the Watch D3 is slightly bulkier and more specialized than a conventional smartwatch, but I find the engineering much more interesting.

It takes it one step further

The Huawei Watch D3’s strap also enables another cool feature, which is ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or ABPM. You can start a 24-hour monitoring plan and have the watch take readings at preset intervals throughout the day and night. Huawei’s default schedule can prompt daytime measurements every 30 minutes. At night, the Watch D3 can automatically inflate while you’re asleep without requiring you to assume the daytime measurement posture.

Once the monitoring period ends, Huawei Health can show daytime, nighttime, and 24-hour averages and generate an ABPM report that can be saved or printed. Of course, the trade-off here is battery life. Huawei rates the watch for up to six days in typical use, while continuous ABPM cuts that estimate to about one day.

The Watch D3 is still a smartwatch, but it’s also certified

The engineering on the Watch D3 is quite intriguing. Its mechanical moving parts are things that set it apart. Still, it doesn’t look like dedicated medical equipment. On the outside, it has that familiar shape of a smartwatch. The white strap unit I have looks elegant and sleek. Its 1.92-inch display dominates the front. All of the UI and other elements function exactly as you’d expect them to.

It might not look like it, though this is kind of impressive when you read the marketing material. Huawei advertises the Watch D3 as a medical-grade wrist blood-pressure monitor in supported markets, and the UK product page says it is CE-MDR certified. However, measurement availability and regulatory status vary by country. It is worth noting that the measurements should only be treated as guidance. Any unusual results should be properly discussed with an actual healthcare professional. The main advice is not to self-diagnose from a single smartwatch reading.

The first week of BMSD 2026 has wrapped up, and it has already delivered one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. Team Soul and Nebula Esports, champions of BGIS 2026 and BGMI Masters Series Season 5 respectively, have both been relegated after failing to finish in the top eight of Group A. Meanwhile, GodLike Esports and defending champions Orangutan survived the cut to retain their place in the top group.

With 48 invite-only BGMI teams competing for a ₹1 crore prize pool and six BMIC 2026 qualification spots, Week 1 has reshuffled the standings ahead of the next stage of the qualifiers.

Team Soul misses survival by just one point

Group A featured several of India’s strongest BGMI organizations, making it the toughest group in the opening week. Gladiator Esports finished at the top with 58 points, followed by Vasista Esports with 54 and 8Bit with 51.

The biggest storyline, however, came further down the table. Team Soul finished just outside the top eight after missing qualification by a single point, sending the BGIS 2026 champions down to Group B for Week 2. Joining them in relegation are Nebula Esports, Apex Gaming, and Revenant XSpark.

GodLike Esports narrowly escaped the same fate, claiming the eighth and final survival spot by that same one-point margin, while Orangutan comfortably retained its position in Group A.

Quantum Spark leads the overall standings

Across the three groups, Quantum Spark emerged as the standout performer of Week 1. The team topped Group C with 62 points, including an impressive 49 finish points, making it the highest-scoring team of the tournament so far.

Group B was equally competitive, with Welt Esports and BLEG finishing tied on 60 points each. Rapid Chaos secured third place with 56 points, keeping itself firmly in contention heading into the next round.

At the end of Week 1, the group leaders are:

The Promotion & Relegation format means the top eight teams in each group either advance or retain their position, while the bottom eight move down a group. As a result, 24 teams move up the ladder and 24 head into a more difficult group for the second week of qualifiers.

Week 2 of the BMSD 2026 Promotion & Relegation stage runs from September 25 to September 27, with matches streaming live on the KRAFTON India Esports YouTube channel from 1:00 PM IST every day.

Last summer proved to be prime season for boutique labels and major studios to slip some of their finest efforts onto physical media. Over the past several weeks, our home theaters have been treated to everything from blood-soaked beaches and Technicolor 3D slapstick comedy to Ray Harryhausen monster mashes.

Whether you’re hunting for vintage restorations, reference-grade Dolby Atmos fodder for your surround setup, hidden gems you missed in theaters, or lavish limited-edition packaging to show off to your friends, these late-summer releases deliver the goods and should carry us nicely into a cozy autumn.

The Fast and the Furious 25th Anniversary Edition 4K (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Yes, it really has been a quarter of a century since Dom, Brian, and their sick rides first roared onto the scene and changed the car-chase movie forever. The FBI/undercover LAPD plot and gritty characters provide a solid setup for some of the best, most intimate action ever captured, with the visual effects used judiciously to enhance the excitement before later films careened off into fantasyland.

Not content to simply repack last year’s model, Universal has rolled out a new driving experience that goes beyond a mere paint job, upgrading the film to Dolby Vision HDR, with some interesting changes to the color grade, while also switching to reference-quality Dolby Atmos for the first time.

A trunkload of legacy features carries over across the 4K and included HD Blu-ray discs, joined by a new half-hour retrospective featuring the three surviving stars plus Meadow Walker, daughter of the late Paul Walker.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Troy 4K Limited Edition (Arrow)

With Trojan horses becoming a big deal on the big screen this summer, there’s never been a better time to revisit Wolfgang Petersen’s take on Helen, Achilles, and yes, even Odysseus, here played by Sean Bean. The scale of Troy is big and bold, and the action is plentiful, owing much to Brad Pitt’s intense performance as the ultimate Greek warrior and the sweeping script by future Game of Thrones co-creator and showrunner David Benioff.

There are no audio commentaries and no new extras of any kind in Arrow’s new three-disc 4K upgrade of both the theatrical version and the vastly different director’s cut, aside from some new writing in the included booklet. The archival bonus material, however, is quite substantial. Most notably, the “In-Movie Experience” picture-in-picture commentary, first seen on the Warner HD DVD, carries over.

Both versions have been newly restored and remastered in Ultra HD with Dolby Vision from the archival camera negatives, and the results are truly stunning. One more reason to consider adding this Troy to your shelf: Reportedly, Disc 1, containing the 4K theatrical cut, will only be available in this limited-edition package and not in future releases.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Out of the Past 4K (Warner Archive Collection)

This was the movie that established film noir’s stylistic vocabulary, combining Robert Mitchum’s sleepy-eyed apathy, Jane Greer’s lethal elegance, and Nicholas Musuraca’s shadowy cinematography to indelible effect. A weary ex-investigator (Mitchum) finds his quiet town compromised when events he couldn’t outrun, and the femme fatale who engineered his downfall, pull him back into a web of deceit, money, and murder.

The new restoration comes from a scan of the nitrate camera negative, finished with Dolby Vision HDR and paired with the original mono audio. The legacy film critic commentary, 2022 introduction, and four radio shows from 1947, the year Out of the Past debuted, are included on both the 4K disc and the supplied HD Blu-ray featuring the new master.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad 4K (Sony)

It has begun! 1958’s 7th Voyage was the first of Ray Harryhausen’s “Dynamation” extravaganzas to be marketed with that term, denoting a process he had refined over several previous films. Basically, by sandwiching his meticulous miniatures between foreground and background elements in-camera, he created more thrilling, more lifelike effects. As a result, audiences were treated to adventures never seen before, like our hero (Kerwin Matthews) doing Sinbattle with a stop-motion Cyclops, a fire-breathing dragon, and a lone bony warrior. (That last foe served as proof of concept for the climactic seven-skeleton army fight in Jason and the Argonauts. Can Sinbad on 4K be the portent of more awesomeness to follow?)

Sony provides a new restoration from the 1.66:1 camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR. Because Dynamation involves re-photographing previously shot film, and stop-motion animation has its own unique look, this isn’t a showoff disc, but I would argue that it is an exemplary preservation of the movie in its authentic form. The satisfying 5.1 remix goes a long way toward helping sell the illusions, too.

Disc Two is a repack of the previously released HD Blu-ray of the movie, loaded with extras: a Harryhausen audio commentary, interviews, featurettes, and even a music video for the tongue-in-cheek promotional song “Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He’s Been Good to Me.” Newly added on the Ultra HD disc is a career-spanning, star-studded, hour-long TV special from 1998 covering Ray’s entire career.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Ju-On: The Grudge 4K Limited Edition (Arrow) 

Historically, Takashi Shimizu’s original Ju-On: The Grudge stands alongside Hideo Nakata’s Ringu as a cornerstone of the turn-of-the-millennium J-horror explosion, helping inspire modern horror’s preference for atmosphere over graphic violence. It captivates with its nonlinear structure, dread-inducing sound design, including vengeful ghost Kayako’s iconic throat rattle, and surreal domestic hauntings.

Rather than relying on jump scares, it weaponizes quiet spaces and revels in its unrelenting, daylight terror. That deceptive sunshine looks fabulous in Arrow’s new 4K master with Dolby Vision, accompanied by DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 in either Japanese or an English dub.

There are also two audio commentaries, one featuring director Sam Raimi, along with an extensive collection of new and archival on-camera interviews with the filmmakers and experts, deleted scenes, and a couple of “true” ghost stories. The slim, slipcased package includes a companion booklet and reversible cover art.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Money from Home Blu-ray 3D (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

How ’50s can you get? Martin & Lewis headline—in 3D!—this Damon Runyon-style “gangland comedy,” with slick ladies’ man “Honey Talk” (Dean Martin) roping gullible veterinarian Virgil (Jerry Lewis) into an elaborate scheme to fix a big horse race and pay off his debt to the mob.

KLSC presents Money from Home in both stereoscopic and anaglyph 3D, as well as standard 2D for those self-conscious about wearing glasses, all on a single disc. There are also not one but two film historian audio commentaries, along with other genuinely excellent supplements.

The extensive 4K restoration effort, with the final result presented here in 1080p, required double the work, as the 35mm “Dynoptic 3-D Technicolor” camera negatives for the left and right eyes had to be scanned and graded separately, with plenty of painstaking but necessary adjustments along the way. The results are absolutely gorgeous and worth checking out in any and all versions.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Wicked Priest Collection Blu-ray (Arrow)

Shinkai is a vice-loving Buddhist monk with a surprising sense of justice in this series, which blends bawdy action-comedy with kinetic martial arts. Its titular hero uses his bravery and cunning, as well as his fists, to root out corruption, defeat vengeful nemeses, and dismantle ruthless yakuza syndicates.

The franchise peaks in its middle installments, particularly Wicked Priest 2, which strikes a fine balance between raunchy yuks and kinetic fight choreography, but star Tomisaburo Wakayama shines brightly across all five entries:

• Wicked Priest (1968)
• Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder (1968)
• Wicked Priest 3: A Killer’s Pilgrimage (1969)
• Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back (1970)
• Wicked Priest 5: Blood on the Commandments (1971)

There are sharp, colorful new restorations of all five Gokuaku Bōzu films, as they were originally known, with lossless Japanese mono audio and optional English subtitles. Several new interviews and video essays cover everything from the music and the depiction of Buddhism in pop culture to the broader filmmaking scene of the era.

Arrow’s wickedly handsome package arrives with extensive new liner notes and reversible sleeve art.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

New York, New York 4K (MVD Marquee Collection)

Is this Martin Scorsese at his most self-indulgent? Exploiting the creative and financial freedom afforded by the success of Taxi Driver, released the previous year, NY, NY is an ambitious but dissonant and ultimately abrasive musical, attempting to recreate the hyper-stylized ’40s MGM aesthetic while filling it with ’70s realism through the relentless toxic conflict between its two leads.

The butchered theatrical version has scarcely been seen since 1977, pushed aside in favor of the longer Director’s Cut, with its “Happy Endings” musical sequence and other footage restored. Here, it has been newly scanned in 4K at 16-bit and presented in the less common 1.66:1 aspect ratio, with a Scorsese introduction and commentary.

The HD Blu-ray includes the trimmed-to-the-bone International Cut (137 minutes), along with loads of legacy interviews, alternate and deleted scenes, and select-scene commentary from D.P. László Kovács.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault Volume 3 Blu-ray (Warner Archive Collection)

They really do listen over at the Warner Archive. Here are 50 more of the most-requested-in-HD cartoon shorts (dang, that must be one huge studio vault in Burbank), peppered with historic milestones including the very first Looney Tune, “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub” (1930), and the first Merrie Melodie, “Lady, Play Your Mandolin!” (1931).

There are two-color, Technicolor, and no-color (black-and-white) outings, all remastered and uncut, with some unseen in such high quality in years. They’re organized alphabetically, which makes for an unusual, eclectic playlist, but not to worry: all of our favorite characters are represented.

And no, we’re not hallucinating. That is Hermann Göring going toe-to-toe with Bugs on Disc Two in “Herr Meets Hare.” Select commentaries from animation experts are provided, as is a clear age warning on the back cover.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Pressure 4K (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Was the real hero of D-Day a meteorologist? Group Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) stands up to the Allied high command in the lead-up to the pivotal invasion, putting his scientific expertise and personal integrity on the line to save Operation Overlord from catastrophic failure.

His combative yet symbiotic relationship with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, played with measured restraint and warmth by Brendan Fraser, provides the dramatic core of this historical tale, based on the stage play by David Haig.

Audio and video on Universal’s Dolby Vision/Atmos disc earn high marks, although the extras are somewhat sparse.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Auntie Mame 4K (Warner Archive Collection)

The heartwarming story of Auntie Mame, about a sweet young orphan who goes to live with his larger-than-life relative, began as a novel, then became a play that evolved into this here film, and was later reimagined as both a full-on stage and screen musical.

The movie has always felt a little stagey for my taste, but even if the manic theatricality isn’t your cup of tea, it’s essential viewing for Rosalind Russell’s tour-de-force performance in the title role, its eye-popping 1958 Technicolor art direction, and a surprisingly sharp critique of postwar American conformity.

Auntie Mame remains a crown jewel for Warner and a fascinating moment in film history, so the studio has gone back to the large-format, horizontal 35mm Technirama camera negative for this glorious, exceptionally detailed restoration from a 12K scan, presented here in Dolby Vision. The original mono is preserved, along with a new 5.1-channel remix that works quite well, plus an isolated music-only track.

Brand-new extras comprise a brief before-and-after comparison (love these) and a recent sit-down with Jan Handzlik, the only surviving cast member, who played little Patrick. Warner Archive has also added a remastered HD Blu-ray and a booklet, unusual for one of its releases, reproducing the movie’s original pressbook in a scaled-down format.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Related Reading:

Farmers around the world face a pressing problem: the equipment they use to till, plant, and harvest their fields is killing their margins. Studies have estimated that soil compaction can reduce yields by 20% to 60%. 

Plowing can help, but it’s a laborious and expensive task that harms soil health in different ways. Muju Earth has developed an alternative, the Aeropod, which automatically aerates the soil without machinery or robotics. The startup says it can promote better soil health while cutting farmers’ tilling costs by half or more.

The device is “built like a seed, it sows like a seed, and it ships like a seed,” Afolayan said. The device is about the size of a fingernail, and farmers drop it in the soil alongside their seeds using the same equipment. There’s no need to till the soil in advance.

“It just really seems like a no-brainer,” Ifeoluwa Afolayan, the company’s co-founder and CEO, tells TechCrunch.

After the Aeropod is exposed to a combination of temperature, pressure, and moisture, it bursts open, loosening the soil and creating small channels that let air, water and roots move through it more easily.

Muju Earth — one of the 200 startups in this year’s TechCrunch Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October — has tested its devices in lab settings and is embarking on paid field trials this fall in the UK. Nine farmers are participating, and the startup has more than 30 on a waitlist.

Its initial target market is onion growers in the UK since onions are particularly sensitive to soil compaction, Afolayan said.

Tilling a field once might cost around £250 to £400 per hectare when factoring in labor costs, diesel, and wear-and-tear on equipment, Afolayan said. Aeropods should produce similar results at just £100 per hectare, she said.

Aeropods were born during Afolayan’s and co-founder Wangyang Hu’s time at Imperial College London, where they sought to design a product that would improve farmers’ bottom lines while also aiding soil health. The Aeropod’s development was driven by a single question: “How do you make this as simple as sowing a seed?” Afolayan said. “That’s the most equitable practice across every farmer on the planet.”

In addition to farmers, the startup has also heard from companies developing biologic amendments — products added to soil, often containing living microbes, that boost or replace chemical fertilizers. Because those companies’ products work best in aerated soils, they’re interested in pairing with Aeropods.

But Afolayan said that farmers themselves have been leading adoption. Most of the marketing to date has been inbound. “The best thing about Aeropod is the farmers intuitively understand the proposition,” she said.

Muju Earth is one of 200 startups in this year’s TechCrunch Startup Battlefield, a pitch competition at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October in which 20 finalists will present on the main stage.

Anthropic lost a legal battle to overturn one of the supply-chain risk labels that the US Department of Defense slapped on the company, as a federal appeals court in DC on Friday refused to second-guess the Trump administration.

“The department had ample support for its conclusion that the continued integration of Claude into the department’s information systems, by the department or its contractors, presented a statutorily covered national-security risk,” the judges wrote in a majority opinion. “As Anthropic admits, the company encodes restrictions into Claude that prevent the model from performing tasks that Anthropic wishes to prevent.”

Anthropic spokesperson Danielle Cohen says the company remains confident in its position and is considering all options. That could include appealing to a broader panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals or the US Supreme Court.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon sanctioned Anthropic under a pair of separate supply-chain laws to remove the company’s Claude AI models from the military and other parts of the federal government by this month. Anthropic executives have said that the company would not allow the government to deploy its current AI models to support autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth deemed the stance a significant national security risk.

The laws designating Anthropic had to be challenged in separate courts. A federal judge in San Francisco tossed out one of the supply-chain risk labels in March and confirmed that decision last month, but Friday’s ruling means the other one will stay in place indefinitely, meaning the Pentagon’s blocking of Anthropic can continue. Both rulings face the prospect of years of appeals before being fully resolved.

In the immediate aftermath of the designations, Anthropic said it lost out on revenue because customers were concerned about doing business with a government pariah. Anthropic hasn’t provided further updates about how the designations have affected its bottom line. But the company has generally touted growing sales in recent months and is moving toward a potential initial public offering of its shares later this year.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon hasn’t provided detailed updates about its progress in replacing Claude with alternatives such as SpaceX’s Grok, Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s GPT models. Some employees at Google and OpenAI have objected to their employers striking a deal with the US military that Anthropic had rejected, citing ethical concerns. But the companies have brushed aside protests and described supporting the US government as crucial.

The new decision by a US appeals court in Washington, DC, was somewhat expected. In April the same panel declined to temporarily block the supply-chain-risk designation after finding that Anthropic failed to meet “stringent requirements” for an immediate reprieve.

During a hearing ahead of their ruling, the three judges on the panel challenged both Anthropic and the US government on their arguments and appeared divided on how to rule on blocking the designation completely. The final decision came in 2-1.

The majority also rejected Anthropic’s claims that its due process and free speech rights were violated, saying that the government followed procedure and that the dispute was standard contract negotiations. The Pentagon “excluded Anthropic from its supply chain based on the company’s refusal to assent to a contract term that the Department deemed essential, not based on the company’s support for greater governmental regulation of AI technology,” the judges wrote.

Anthropic had argued that the government had acted beyond what the supply-chain law allows. But for now, the Pentagon and much of the rest of the Trump administration will be able to continue to steer clear of Claude ahead of Anthropic’s expected IPO.