Anthropic Asks San Francisco Employees to Work From Home Amid Strike Warning

Anthropic has asked its San Francisco employees to work from home on Monday and Tuesday after Allied Universal, its security contractor, warned that some guards might strike, though the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said no strike was planned. The precautionary measure comes amid ongoing negotiations over salaries, healthcare, and training, and follows reports of threats against AI workers at Anthropic and OpenAI.

The Anthropic company has asked its employees located in San Francisco to stay away from their office premises for the time being due to fears of a possible labor dispute by their contracted security guards. As per information provided to Business Insider by an anonymous source who was aware of the situation, the workers in San Francisco are required to work from home on Monday and Tuesday. The warning was issued after Allied Universal, which provides security guards to Anthropic, informed Anthropic /tech/112559/anthropic-to-process-claude-ai-data-on-indian-servers-expands-local-infrastructure-heres-why-it-matt that some of its workers might walk out on duty. There is, however, no information as of yet whether there is a strike call by the security guards of Anthropic. JUST IN: Anthropic sent staff home over a strike threat. The union said no strike was planned. — Ruben @rdominguezibar ▫️ IPO expected this month ▫️ Threats against AI staff rising Unusual HR problems. pic.twitter.com/ySXUHeNw1D August 25, 2026 It has been informed by the Service Employees International Union SEIU , representing the workers of Allied Universal, that they have neither voted for any strike nor announced any strike action for this week. Negotiations have been ongoing since April with Allied Universal and other private security companies regarding new agreements. The key topics during the negotiations involve salaries, healthcare, and training for the security guards. During the negotiations, Anthropic has decided to keep their staff away from the office as a preventive measure against any strike, although there hasn't been any strike confirmed as yet. There has been no official announcement by Allied Universal about any industrial action by their security staff. A company spokesperson said, “We continue to closely monitor the situation and remain focused on maintaining safe and reliable operations.” The latest development is coming against the backdrop that security is becoming a key issue for leading artificial intelligence firms. This is because Anthropic has grown significantly amid high demands for generative AI, thereby making the company and its workers more visible. This is not the only AI firm to have security issues; according to the Wall Street Journal, there have been threats to both Anthropic and OpenAI workers. The latest advisory has also thrown a wrench into the usual workings of Anthropic. Anthropic operates under the hybrid work model, and its recruitment postings require that the firm’s workers spend at least 25% of their working hours at the company’s offices. However, now that San Francisco workers face the threat of attacks, they have been told to work from home until further notice, which will depend on how the negotiations go between Allied Universal and its workers. Also See: Hate Editing Reels? Instagram’s First Draft Does It In Under 10 Seconds