Hundreds of Google and OpenAI employees have signed an open letter urging their leadership to stand with Anthropic in its dispute with the Pentagon over military uses of AI. The letter, titled We Will Not Be Divided, calls on the companies to collectively refuse Department of Defense demands to use AI models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomous killing without human oversight. These are two red lines that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has stated his company and others should not cross. The letter has garnered over 450 signatures, with nearly 400 from Google employees and the rest from OpenAI. About half of the signatories have attached their names publicly, while the rest remain anonymous. All are verified as current employees. The organizers state they are unaffiliated with any AI company, political party, or advocacy group. This action is a direct response to the ongoing standoff between Anthropic and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Pentagon reportedly threatened to label Anthropic a supply chain risk if it did not remove certain guardrails for classified work. Similar talks have been held with Google and OpenAI regarding using their models for classified purposes, with xAI agreeing to participate earlier this week. The letter accuses the government of trying to divide the companies by fostering fear that their competitors will capitulate. In a related development, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman informed employees in an internal memo that his company will uphold the same red lines as Anthropic. He also stated publicly that he does not personally believe the Pentagon should be threatening these companies with defense production act authorities. The employee letter frames the issue as a critical moment for the AI industry, arguing that granting the Pentagons current requests would set a dangerous precedent, erode public trust, and betray the ethical principles many workers were hired to uphold. It calls for a united front to ensure powerful AI technology is not used for what the signatories deem unethical purposes.
