Hundreds of tech workers have joined forces by signing an open letter to request the Department of Defense to reconsider its classification of Anthropic as a ‘supply chain risk.’ The letter, which also appeals to Congress to assess the situation, involves prominent figures from the tech and venture capital sectors, including representatives from OpenAI, Slack, IBM, Cursor, and Salesforce Ventures.
The conflict arose when Anthropic, an AI research lab, declined to grant the military unrestricted access to its AI systems, setting two non-negotiable boundaries: refusing mass surveillance on Americans and disallowing autonomous weapons that could operate without human oversight. Despite the DOD’s assurance of no intentions to engage in such activities, disagreements persisted over vendor constraints.
Following Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s refusal to reach an agreement with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the administration issued a directive to halt federal agencies’ utilization of Anthropic’s technology after a six-month transition period. Subsequently, Hegseth proceeded to label Anthropic a supply chain risk, a designation typically assigned to foreign adversaries, potentially barring the AI firm from collaborations involving Pentagon-affiliated entities.
However, this designation necessitates a comprehensive risk evaluation and congressional notification before military partners can sever ties with Anthropic. In response, Anthropic has criticized the designation as ‘legally unsound’ and vowed to contest any imposed supply chain restrictions.
Source: TechCrunch