CCIA, ITI, SIIA, and TechNet Joint Statement on Amicus Brief in Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War, et al.
WASHINGTON – Today, a broad coalition representing the entire technology sector and a significant portion of the U.S. economy filed an amicus brief (opens in a new tab) in the Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War, et al. lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The brief signed by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), and TechNet outlines the immediate and concrete impacts posed by the Department of War’s recent supply chain risk designation to the America’s technology industry, and the U.S. government’s established contracting procedures and its ability to access products and services.
The organizations filing collectively represent hundreds of technology companies, many who contract with the U.S. government, including the Department of War, to provide mission-critical technology products and services, including AI.
The organizations write in the brief: “The federal government’s ability to access the world’s most advanced commercial technology depends on a procurement system that offers private companies stable rules, predictable terms, and the assurance that disputes will be resolved through established channels.”
“If, as the result of a contractual disagreement, the federal government can instantly blacklist a U.S. company from government work on the pretext the company poses a security risk, then the procurement framework that Congress built over decades becomes contingent on political favor rather than the rule of law. A system in which agencies may bypass governing statutes and regulations at presidential or secretarial command is not the system Congress designed, nor the one this Court should endorse,” the organizations continued.