Pentagon flags Anthropic’s foreign workforce as a national security risk to dismiss company’s lawsuit

The Pentagon filed a declaration arguing that Anthropic's employment of foreign nationals, including workers from China, increases adversarial risk under China's National Intelligence Law, citing the concern as a reason its national security concerns with Anthropic go beyond prior disputes over domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons policies. The filing, signed by Pentagon undersecretary Emil Michael, contrasts Anthropic with other major AI labs whose foreign workforce risks are offset by leadership credibility and “consistently responsible and trustworthy behavior” when working with the Defense Department. The declaration comes as Anthropic fights in court to undo its designation as a Pentagon supply chain risk, even as the Pentagon said it remains willing to extend deadlines for offboarding Anthropic's tools, and Samuel Hammond of the Foundation for American Innovation noted the irony that Anthropic is widely considered the most proactive AI lab at policing insider threats from foreign nationals.