More than 30 employees from OpenAI and Google DeepMind filed a joint statement Monday defending Anthropic’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense, TechCrunch AI reports. The move came hours after the Claude maker launched two lawsuits challenging the Pentagon’s decision to label it a supply-chain risk, a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries.
This is a remarkable moment. Employees from direct competitors are publicly siding with Anthropic against the federal government. The signatories include Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, which gives the brief serious weight.
What Triggered This
Late last week, the Pentagon slapped Anthropic with the supply-chain risk label after the company refused to let the DOD use its AI technology for two specific purposes:
- Mass surveillance of American citizens
- Autonomously firing weapons
The DOD’s position was straightforward: it should be able to use AI for any “lawful” purpose without restrictions from a private contractor. Anthropic disagreed and held its red lines.
The Timing Raises Questions
According to the court filing cited by TechCrunch AI, the employees make a pointed observation: if the Pentagon was “no longer satisfied with the agreed-upon terms of its contract with Anthropic,” it could have “simply canceled the contract and purchased the services of another leading AI company.”
And that’s exactly what happened. The DOD signed a deal with OpenAI within moments of designating Anthropic a risk. Many of OpenAI’s own employees protested that move, and then turned around to sign this brief supporting Anthropic.
Why This Matters for the AI Industry
The amicus brief frames this as an existential issue for the entire sector, not just one company:
- Chilling effect on safety work. The brief warns that punishing Anthropic “will chill open deliberation in our field about the risks and benefits of today’s AI systems.” If a company can be labeled a national security threat for setting ethical boundaries, others will think twice before doing the same.
- No public AI governance law exists. The filing argues that without federal legislation governing AI use, the contractual and technical restrictions developers place on their systems are the only real safeguard against catastrophic misuse. Remove those, and there’s nothing.
- Competitiveness at stake. “If allowed to proceed, this effort to punish one of the leading U.S. AI companies will undoubtedly have consequences for the United States’ industrial and scientific competitiveness,” the brief reads.
What stands out here is how quickly the AI research community rallied. Many of the signatories had already signed open letters in recent weeks urging the DOD to withdraw the label and calling on their own company leaders to support Anthropic.
What Comes Next
This battle is heading to court. Anthropic has filed two separate lawsuits against the DOD and other federal agencies, and the industry support brief landed on the docket the same day. Wired was first to report the initial news.
The outcome will set a precedent for how much control AI companies retain over how their technology gets used by government agencies. If the Pentagon’s supply-chain designation stands, every AI company with ethical red lines becomes a potential target. If it doesn’t, it reinforces the principle that developers can set boundaries on their systems, even when the customer is the U.S. military.
The full details of the filings and industry response are available at the original TechCrunch AI report.