The move to designate the AI firm a “supply chain risk” forces a six-month Pentagon transition from its products and reshapes competition among OpenAI, Google, and xAI.

While Anthropic has an existing partnership with the Pentagon, the AI company has remained firm that its technology not be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weaponry.

The petition comes after Anthropic issued a statement refusing to accept the Department of Defense’s demand for unrestricted access to its AI tools.

More than 200 employees from Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter stating their solidarity with Anthropic in limiting the use of advanced AI for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous warfare.

Shortly after the president's ban of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, rival OpenAI announced it had done a deal with the Defense Department to provide its technology for classified networks.

The Pentagon previously requested Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI allow the use of their AI models for “all lawful purposes,” to which Anthropic put up the most resistance over fears its AI models could be used for autonomous weapons systems and mass domestic surveillance.

The move is likely to benefit Elon Musk’s competing chatbot, Grok, which the Pentagon plans to give access to classified military networks.