‘Unprecedented and unlawful’: OpenAI and Google staff rush to support Anthropic’s lawsuit against Pentagon AI blacklist
More than 30 OpenAI and Google DeepMind employees filed an amicus brief supporting Anthropic litigation against the U.S. Department of Defense. Specifically, Anthropic is suing the U.S. government to block enforcement of the supply chain risk label, which is largely used for rival foreign companies.
“If allowed to continue, this effort to punish one of the leading U.S. AI companies will undoubtedly have consequences for U.S. industrial and scientific competitiveness in AI and beyond,” the staffers wrote succinctly.
The amicus brief was filed in court just hours after Anthropic filed two lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies, calling the Trump administration’s action “unprecedented and illegal.”
Employees named in the summary include Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, Google DeepMind researchers Zhengdong Wang, Alexander Matt Turner, and Noah Siegel, as well as OpenAI researchers Gabriel Wu, Pamela Mishkin, Roman Novak, and more.
The appointment “brings an unpredictability to our industry that undermines American innovation and competitiveness,” the summary says. “It chills professional debate about the benefits and risks of leading-edge AI systems and the various ways the risks can be addressed to optimize the deployment of the technology.”
It also supports the supposed red lines that Anthropic claims to have demanded during negotiations with the Pentagon; that is, not using AI for autonomous lethal weapons and domestic mass surveillance.
“In the absence of public law, the contractual and technological requirements that AI developers impose on the use of their systems constitute a vital safeguard against catastrophic abuse,” the brief adds.
Sam Altman on Anthropic being labeled a supply chain risk:
OpenAI struck its own deal with the Pentagon just hours after negotiations between Anthropic and the US government broke down. But ChatGPT producer and boss Sam Altman have spoken out against labeling Anthropic as a supply chain risk.
“Implementing the SCR designation on Anthropic would be very bad for our industry, our country, and of course their company. That’s what we told DoW before and after. We said one reason we were willing to do this quickly was the hope of de-escalation.” Altman said in a post on X.
“Of course, I feel like I’m in competition with Anthropic, but successfully building safe superintelligence and sharing the benefits broadly is far more important than any corporate competition. If we could, I believe they would do something to help us in the face of gross injustice.” he added.
