Anthropic told staff in its San Francisco offices to start this week working from home because of a possible strike by its offices' security workers. The union representing those workers said that was news to them.
Last week, the AI company received a notice from its security staffing firm, Allied Universal, saying that its employees might go on strike, according to a person familiar with the matter. Anthropic then told its own workers they shouldn't come into San Francisco offices on Monday and Tuesday just in case, the person said.
Allied Universal did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents workers at Allied, told Business Insider it is in protracted contract negotiations with Allied and other California security firms. The union said it had not called a strike authorization vote or issued any strike threats for this week.
SEIU covers thousands of security workers in California and has been negotiating for a new contract since April. The union is pushing for higher wages, better healthcare, and more comprehensive job training.
Anthropic declined to comment on the stay-at-home mandate.
Security spending has ramped up in the wider tech industry over the past few years. The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthropic and OpenAI have dealt with several threats against their employees.
Anthropic has a hybrid in-office policy that generally requires staff to be in the office at least 25% of the time, according to job postings.
Anthropic is expected to file for its initial public offering as soon as August, having filed its confidential S-1 draft in June. On secondary markets, investors have propelled the company to a $1.5 billion valuation.
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Hugh is a senior correspondent at Business Insider where he writes about Google, tech, and wealth. His work has been cited by The New York Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.Get an alert whenever I publish a story.Got a tip? You can reach him using the secure messaging app Signal (hughlangley.01) or email ([email protected]). We can keep sources anonymous.
Stephen is a senior tech reporter at Business Insider, covering OpenAI, Anthropic and the ecosystem around the leading artificial intelligence companies.Previously he covered technology at SFGATE, and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Information and CNBC. He studied journalism and economics at Northwestern University.His work has earned an SF Press Club Investigative Reporting Award and, in 2025, SPJ NorCal’s Excellence in Journalism Award for Technology Reporting.Stephen lives in San Francisco. Contact him via email at [email protected], or on Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 415-757-8198. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
