A collective of over 30 employees from prominent artificial intelligence firms, OpenAI and Google DeepMind, formally submitted a statement on Monday in support of Anthropic’s lawsuit against the U.S. Defense Department. This action follows the federal agency’s decision to label Anthropic as a supply chain risk, according to recently unsealed court filings.
The brief explicitly states, “The government’s designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk was an improper and arbitrary use of power that has serious ramifications for our industry.” Among the notable signatories is Jeff Dean, the chief scientist at Google DeepMind.
This contentious "supply chain risk" label, typically reserved for foreign adversaries, was imposed by the Pentagon late last week. It stemmed from Anthropic's refusal to permit the Department of Defense to utilize its AI technology for mass surveillance of American citizens or for the autonomous deployment of weapons. The DOD, conversely, had asserted its right to use AI for any “lawful” purpose, arguing against being constrained by a private contractor's terms.
The amicus brief, signaling support for Anthropic, became publicly available on the court docket just hours after the developer of the Claude AI model initiated two separate lawsuits against the DOD and other federal entities. Wired magazine was the first to report this development.
Within their court submission, the Google and OpenAI employees underscored that if the Pentagon was “no longer satisfied with the agreed-upon terms of its contract with Anthropic,” the agency possessed the option to have “simply canceled the contract and purchased the services of another leading AI company.”
Coincidentally, the DOD proceeded to finalize a deal with OpenAI almost immediately after labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk – a decision that sparked protests among numerous employees of the ChatGPT developer.
The brief warns, “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 in the field of artificial intelligence and beyond.” It further asserts that such actions “will chill open deliberation in our field about the risks and benefits of today’s AI systems.”
The court filing also validates Anthropic’s established "red lines" as legitimate concerns that necessitate robust guardrails. It contends that in the absence of comprehensive public law governing AI deployment, the contractual and technical limitations implemented by developers on their systems serve as crucial safeguards against potentially catastrophic misuse.
A significant number of the employees who endorsed this statement had also previously co-signed open letters in recent weeks, advocating for the DOD to rescind its designation and urging their respective company leaders to stand with Anthropic by refusing unilateral use of their AI systems.
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