Microsoft backs Anthropic in legal fight with US Department of Defense

Claude creator Anthropic is suing the US government after the Pentagon threatened to designate the company as a "supply chain risk." Anthropic also requested a restraining order to pause the Pentagon's national security blacklisting until the court can hear its suit.

Microsoft has asked to file an amicus brief in federal court in San Francisco to support Anthropic, though a judge must still approve its inclusion. The dispute grew from disagreements over safeguards in Anthropic's large language models, specifically guardrails designed to prevent deployment in autonomous weapon targeting and mass domestic surveillance.

Anthropic's AI safety lead resigned soon after, posting on X that "The world is in peril," and the company revised its earlier pledge to pause development of more powerful models if safety measures were not ready.

United States, San Francisco

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