On Tuesday, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) filed an amicus brief in federal court in San Francisco supporting Anthropic’s request for a temporary restraining order against the Pentagon’s “supply chain risk” designation.
Microsoft Backs Anthropic In Court Filing
On Monday, Claude’s parent company sued the Defense Department to block the government from placing it on what it described as a national security blacklist that could restrict how its technology is used in defense systems.
In its filing, Microsoft argued that the Pentagon’s determination should be paused while the court reviews the case.
This development comes a day after Microsoft said it will add Claude Cowork from Anthropic to its Microsoft 365 Copilot platform, which had previously relied exclusively on models from OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The two companies formed a partnership late last year.
Pentagon Designation Could Disrupt Defense Suppliers
Microsoft said the designation directly affects its business because the company integrates Anthropic’s AI tools into technologies it provides to the U.S. military.
Without a temporary restraining order, contractors could be forced to rapidly redesign products and services that rely on Anthropic’s technology.
This could potentially cause costly disruptions across the defense supply chain, according to the filing.
The company also noted that while the Pentagon gave itself six months to phase out Anthropic internally, it did not offer the same transition period to contractors using the startup’s tools.
Researchers Also Back Anthropic
Separately, a group of 37 researchers and engineers from OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google also submitted an amicus brief supporting Anthropic, Reuters reported.
Price Action: Microsoft shares closed Tuesday at $405.76, down 0.89% and edged up 0.0049% to $405.78 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro.
According to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, Microsoft is trending downward across the short, medium and long-term timeframes, though its Quality score remains strong, ranking in the 90th percentile.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via bluestork/Shutterstock
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