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

Hundreds of employees at Google and OpenAI are backing artificial intelligence technology company Anthropic, which faces a Friday evening deadline to give the Pentagon permission to use its AI system as it wishes or face repercussions from the department.

President Trump said Friday that he has directed all federal agencies to “immediately cease” working with Anthropic – and blasted the company’s leadership as “leftwing nut jobs.”

Anthropic issued a statement earlier today stating that the company will not allow its AI platform to be used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weaponry by the United States government. Employees from both Google and OpenAI have joined in this call for AI red lines.

OpenAI and Google employees are pushing back against Pentagon pressure for broader military access to AI models.

More than 100 Google A.I. employees sent a letter to Jeff Dean, a chief scientist, opposing Gemini’s use for U.S. surveillance and some autonomous weapons.

The conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over how the Pentagon can use the startup’s AI has turned into a standoff. The agency has given the company a Friday evening deadline to give it unfettered access to its technology—or else becut off from working withmilitary