Hundreds of employees from Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter in solidarity with Anthropic, urging their companies to resist Pentagon demands for unrestricted military use of AI models. The letter opposes uses involving domestic mass surveillance and autonomous killing without human oversight. This comes amid threats from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to label Anthropic a supply chain risk.
The open letter, titled “We Will Not Be Divided,” calls on the leadership of Google and OpenAI to stand together against the Pentagon's requests. It specifically refuses demands to use AI models like Anthropic's Claude for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has stated that these are lines no AI company should cross.
As of February 27, 2026, the letter has garnered over 450 signatures, with nearly 400 from Google employees and the remainder from OpenAI. About 50 percent of signatories chose to attach their names publicly, while the others remained anonymous. All signatures are verified as coming from current employees of the two companies. The organizers, who are unaffiliated with any AI company, political party, or advocacy group, initiated the effort independently.
This development is part of an ongoing standoff between Anthropic and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has threatened to designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” unless it withdraws certain guardrails for classified work. The Pentagon has been negotiating with Google and OpenAI on similar uses of their models for classified purposes, and xAI joined those talks earlier in the week. The letter contends that the government is attempting to divide the companies by instilling fear that others might comply.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the issue in an internal memo, stating that his company will maintain the same red lines as Anthropic. In a CNBC interview on the same day, Altman expressed that he does not believe the Pentagon should threaten Defense Production Act measures against these companies. Separately, Amodei has affirmed Anthropic's position, saying, “We cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”
