The Digester

OpenAI and Google employees back Anthropic lawsuit against Pentagon

Mar 9th 2026

Nearly 40 engineers and researchers from U.S. AI labs filed an amicus brief backing Anthropic after the Department of Defense labeled the company a supply chain risk over its refusal to permit AI for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

  • Anthropic sued the Department of Defense after being designated a supply chain risk for refusing to allow AI use in mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous lethal weapons.
  • Nearly 40 employees from OpenAI and Google, including Jeff Dean, filed an amicus brief supporting Anthropic.
  • The supply chain risk label bars Anthropic from Pentagon contracts and can force other contractors to remove Anthropic tools to keep their deals.
  • Anthropic’s models were already used in classified intelligence work and were reportedly used by the U.S. military in a campaign that targeted Iran’s leader.
  • The brief argues the designation is improper retaliation that harms the public interest and that Anthropic’s red lines raise real policy and safety concerns.
  • Signatories warned AI could combine siloed data into a unified, real-time surveillance apparatus and that lethal autonomous weapons are unreliable in novel conditions and require human oversight.

Sources

theverge.com