Alibaba Group Holding Ltd filed a lawsuit on June 23 in a US federal court in San Jose, California, seeking removal from a Pentagon blacklist that labels it as a company linked to the Chinese military [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The US Department of Defense added Alibaba to the "1260H list" on or around June 8, 2026, alongside other major Chinese firms like Baidu, BYD, Nio, and Tencent Holdings [6, 7, 8, 2, 3].
The Pentagon alleges Alibaba contributes to China's military-civil fusion effort through ties with Chinese regulators and state-owned asset agencies [6, 4, 9]. The designation forbids the Department of Defense from contracting with Alibaba starting June 30, 2026, and bans indirect procurement via third parties beginning in 2027 [6, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Additionally, US contractors who lobby for companies on the list are barred from Defense contracts, forcing legal and lobbying firms to sever ties with Alibaba [6, 8, 2, 4].
Alibaba strongly denies the military association claims. It states it is governed by an independent board with no military affiliations and that its core businesses focus on retail, cloud computing, logistics, e-commerce, and enterprise IT—not defense or intelligence [6, 1, 7, 8, 10, 3, 4]. In lawsuit filings, Alibaba said, "The determinations have no basis in fact or law. Alibaba is governed by an independent board, none of whom has any military affiliation. Its products and services are built for retail, logistics, and enterprise information technology — not weapons, defense, or intelligence" [6]. A company spokesperson added, "Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company" [3].
Alibaba also claims the Pentagon offered no substantial evidence or reasonable explanation for the designation and violated constitutional due process and free speech rights [1, 7, 11, 2, 10, 4, 12]. The company engaged with the Defense Department from February 2026, submitting evidence and responses without receiving any replies before being blacklisted [11, 2, 5].
The expanded blacklist now includes 188 Chinese companies, up from 134 in 2025, reflecting increased US scrutiny on China’s tech and defense integration [3, 9, 12]. Alongside Alibaba, notable firms listed include Baidu, BYD, Nio, Tencent Holdings, ChangXin Memory Technologies, Yangtze Memory Technologies, Unitree Robotics, and WuXi AppTec [7, 11, 2, 4, 9, 5].
Alibaba said the designation has caused irreparable harm to its reputation and US business partnerships [6, 4, 12]. China’s government condemned the blacklist as discriminatory and urged the US to stop suppressing Chinese companies, with a Chinese embassy spokesperson stating, "Chinese companies that do business overseas have been strictly observing laws and regulations of their host countries. The US should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies" [8, 3].
The US government and Pentagon have declined to comment on the ongoing litigation [6, 8, 4, 5]. The formal ban on Defense contracts with listed firms, including Alibaba, will take effect on June 30, 2026, under the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act [6, 8, 2, 4, 5]. Purchasing bans will extend to indirect procurement through third parties starting in 2027 [3, 4, 9, 5].
