OpenAI Defends Rival Anthropic Against Pentagon Blacklisting
OpenAI told the Pentagon it opposes designating competitor Anthropic as a supply chain risk.
In a rare show of solidarity between AI rivals, OpenAI has publicly stated it does not believe Anthropic should be classified as a supply chain risk — and has communicated that stance directly to the Department of Defense.
The company made its position unambiguous, saying it has formally conveyed its objections to the Pentagon. OpenAI referred to the agency using the historical term "Department of War" in its statement.
The move is notable given that OpenAI and Anthropic are fierce competitors in the large language model space. Both companies have been aggressively pursuing government contracts and defense partnerships.
Designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk could effectively lock the company out of lucrative federal deals and restrict its involvement in defense-related AI work. OpenAI apparently sees that outcome as bad for the broader AI ecosystem — or at least bad enough to speak up publicly on behalf of a direct competitor.