Microsoft Backs Anthropic in Fight Over Pentagon Supply-Chain Label

Microsoft filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Anthropic’s lawsuit, urging a federal judge to temporarily block the Pentagon’s designation of the A.I. company as a supply chain risk. The decision stands out because Microsoft is one of the nation’s largest government contractors.

The company holds billions in federal contracts, including a share of the $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability deal and a General Services Administration agreement that could offer agencies more than $6 billion in cloud discounts over three years. Microsoft also agreed to invest $5 billion in Anthropic, and Anthropic committed to purchasing $30 billion in cloud services from the tech giant.

Negotiations between Anthropic and the Pentagon over limits on the use of Claude for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weaponry broke down last week, after which the administration labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk.

United States

microsoft, anthropic, pentagon, supply chain, claude, cloud services, lawsuit, government contracts, autonomous weaponry, investment