Following the U.S. military strike on Iran last weekend and the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic's AI models, technology workers at Google, OpenAI, and some of their peers are circulating a series of open letters calling for clearer boundaries on their employers' cooperation with the military.

One open letter, titled "We Will Not Be Divided," saw its number of signatories increase from a few hundred on Friday to nearly 900 by Monday. Among these, nearly 100 signatories are from OpenAI, and close to 800 are from Google. The letter aims to oppose the Department of Defense's actions against Anthropic, which has refused to allow its technology to be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.

The letter states, "They are attempting to divide each company by exploiting the fear that 'the other side will yield.' This strategy only works when we are unaware of each other's positions. This letter is intended to build common understanding and solidarity in the face of such pressure from the 'War Department.'"

The combat operations against Iran commenced just hours after the Trump administration's decision on Friday to block Anthropic and designate it as a "supply chain risk." While the U.S. government claimed the strikes on Iran were necessary to eliminate an "imminent threat" posed by the country's nuclear and missile programs, these actions appear to have prompted more technology workers to sign various petitions.

Tensions within the tech industry have been escalating for months, primarily due to increasingly aggressive actions by federal immigration enforcement agencies, including an incident earlier this year in Minnesota where two U.S. citizens were killed. Practitioners in the industry are demanding greater transparency from their employers regarding cooperation with the government, especially concerning cloud and AI contracts.

For Google, the latest backlash comes as the company is reportedly negotiating with the Pentagon regarding access for its AI model Gemini into classified systems. This has reignited a long-standing internal dispute within the company over military applications of AI.

Last Friday, the "Tech Against Apartheid" organization, a long-time critic of cloud deals between the U.S. government and tech giants, issued a joint statement titled "Amazon, Google, Microsoft Must Reject Pentagon Demands."

The coalition stated that these three cloud infrastructure leaders should reject terms proposed by the Department of Defense that could lead to mass surveillance or other misuse of AI. It also called for increased transparency in contracts involving the military and agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The group pointed directly at Google, noting that its potential agreement with the Pentagon might resemble a deal that allows the Department of Defense to deploy Elon Musk's xAI company's Grok in a "classified environment"—reportedly "without any safeguards, to our knowledge."

The statement said, "Our own company is also on the verge of accepting similar contract terms. Google is negotiating with the Pentagon to deploy its own cutting-edge model, Gemini, for classified uses."

While Anthropic and OpenAI have issued multiple public statements regarding their negotiations with the Department of Defense and the status of their contracts, Google's parent company, Alphabet, has remained silent. The company has not responded to repeated requests for comment.