March 10 (Reuters) – Microsoft filed a brief on Tuesday in support of the Anthropic lawsuit, asking a court to temporarily block the U.S. Defense Department’s design of an AI startup as a supply chain risk.
In an amicus brief filed in federal court in San Francisco, Microsoft supported Entropy’s request for a temporary restraining order against the Pentagon’s order, arguing that its decision should be stayed while the court reviews the case.
Microsoft, which integrates AI lab products and services into technology it provides to the US military, said it was directly affected by the Defense Department.
The cloud maker filed a lawsuit Monday to avoid being placed on the Pentagon’s national security blacklist, escalating a high-profile battle with the U.S. military over restrictions on its use of the technology.
Microsoft’s filing argued that the TRO is necessary to prevent price disruptions for suppliers, who would otherwise quickly develop offerings that rely on Entropy’s products. The judge overseeing the case must approve Microsoft’s request to file a brief before it can be formally entered, but courts often allow outside parties to weigh in on important cases.
While the Pentagon gave itself six months to phase out Entropy, it did not provide a similar transition period for contractors using Entropy’s products or services to perform under the DOD, Microsoft said.
“If this action proceeds without the entry of a temporary restraining order, Microsoft and other government contractors who specialize in developing solutions to support US government missions will have to take new risk into account in their business planning.”
Microsoft added that the temporary restraining order will allow time to negotiate a solution while protecting military access to advanced technology and ensuring that AI is not used for domestic mass surveillance or to start wars without human control.
On Monday, a group of 37 researchers and engineers from OpenAI and Google also filed an Amicus brief in support of Anthropic.
(Reporting by Valerie Srivastava and Anita Ruprai in Bangalore; Additional reporting by Jake Malke in New York; Editing by Alan Barona and Peter Henderson)
