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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