Tech Workers Urge DoD and Congress to Revoke Anthropic Supply Chain Risk Label

Hundreds of technology professionals have signed an open letter urging the Department of Defense to revoke the supply chain risk designation assigned to Anthropic. The letter also calls upon Congress to intervene and examine whether exercising such extraordinary powers against a domestic tech company is appropriate.

Signatories include representatives from major technology and venture capital firms, including OpenAI, Slack, IBM, Cursor, and Salesforce Ventures. This letter was issued following a dispute between the DoD and Anthropic last week, during which the AI lab refused to provide the military with unrestricted access to its AI systems.

In negotiations with the Pentagon, Anthropic established two red lines: it does not want its technology used for mass surveillance of Americans or for autonomous weapons making targeting and firing decisions without human involvement. The DoD stated it had no plans to do so but argued it should not be subject to vendor rules.

After Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to reach an agreement with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump instructed federal agencies on Friday to stop using Anthropic's technology after a six-month transition period. Hegseth subsequently designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk—a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries—which would blacklist the AI company from collaborating with any agency or company doing business with the Pentagon.

In a post on Friday, Hegseth wrote, "Effective immediately, any contractor, supplier, or partner doing business with the US military is prohibited from engaging in any commercial activity with Anthropic."

However, a post on X does not automatically make Anthropic a supply chain risk. The government needs to complete a risk assessment and notify Congress before military partners are required to sever ties with Anthropic or its products. In a blog post, Anthropic stated that the designation is legally untenable and will "challenge any supply chain risk designation in court."

Many in the industry believe the government's handling of Anthropic was overly harsh and clearly retaliatory.

"When parties cannot agree on terms, the normal practice is to part ways and work with competitors," the open letter stated. "This situation sets a dangerous precedent. Punishing an American company for refusing to accept contract changes sends a clear message to every tech company in the US: accept any terms demanded by the government or face retaliation."

Beyond concerns about the harsh treatment of Anthropic, many in the industry remain worried about potential government overreach and the malicious use of AI.

OpenAI researcher Boaz Barak wrote on social media that preventing the government from using AI for mass surveillance is also his "personal red line," and that "this should be a red line for all of us."

Shortly after Trump publicly attacked Anthropic, OpenAI announced it had reached an agreement to deploy its models in the DoD's classified environment. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated last week that the company shares the same red lines as Anthropic.

"If there is any benefit from last week's events, it is that our AI industry is beginning to view the issue of government abuse and surveillance of its people using AI as a catastrophic risk in itself," Barak wrote. "We have done well in assessing, mitigating, and establishing processes for risks such as biological weapons and cybersecurity. Let's use similar processes here."