Lumen Technologies (LUMN) Slashes 6.8% as Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute Spills Over to Stock

We recently published 10 Stocks Left Behind in a Roaring Market. Lumen Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) was one of the worst performers on Wednesday.

Lumen Technologies saw its share prices drop by as much as 6.8 percent in intra-day trading on Wednesday before finishing at $7.11 apiece, as an ongoing dispute between artificial intelligence firm Anthropic and the Pentagon spilled over to its stock.

Anthropic, one of Lumen Technologies Inc.’s (NYSE:LUMN) major customers, is currently facing a setback after the Pentagon ordered the company to loosen its rules about how it can use its AI tools, or risk losing its government contract. The AI firm has until Friday, February 27, to fulfill the requirement.

However, Anthropic is refusing to back down over safeguards that prevent technology from being used to conduct US domestic surveillance and to program autonomous weapons that can hit targets without human intervention.

Having recently sealed a multi-year contract with Anthropic to expand its fiber networks across North America, any delay in the development of infrastructure for the AI firm could dampen growth prospects for Lumen Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LUMN), especially as it has just announced the start of its growth strategy after successfully completing its turnaround plan.

“We’ve done what many thought we couldn’t—stabilized the business, strengthened our financial foundation, and earned credibility in the market. Now we’re accelerating from turnaround to growth,” Lumen Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) CEO Kate Johnson said.

Lumen’s partnership with Anthropic forms part of a $13 billion private connectivity fabric contract sealed recently.

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