Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei defends firm after Trump officials accuse it of fuelling AI fear narrative

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei rejects claims of AI fear-mongering, says the firm stands for responsible innovation and transparency.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has publicly responded to escalating criticism from Trump administration officials and industry leaders who accused the company of promoting fear about artificial intelligence for political or regulatory gain. In a detailed statement released on Tuesday, Amodei said his aim was to “set the record straight” and refute what he described as “a recent uptick in inaccurate claims about Anthropic’s policy stances.”

“Anthropic is built on a simple principle: AI should be a force for human progress, not peril,” Amodei wrote. “That means making products that are genuinely useful, speaking honestly about risks and benefits, and working with anyone serious about getting this right.” His remarks came in response to recent comments from White House AI czar David Sacks and senior policy advisor Sriram Krishnan, who accused Anthropic of exaggerating AI risks to influence regulation.

The dispute began after Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark expressed his “appropriate fears” about AI, calling it a powerful and unpredictable tool that should not be treated as a simple machine. Sacks fired back, claiming Anthropic was “running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering” and that its stance was damaging the startup ecosystem.

California senator Scott Wiener, who introduced the AI safety bill SB 53, defended Anthropic, accusing President Trump of trying to “ban states from acting on AI” without introducing strong federal oversight. Sacks countered that Anthropic was helping Wiener “impose the Left’s vision of AI regulation,” while others, including Groq COO Sunny Madra, said the firm’s support for regulation was “causing chaos for the entire industry.”

Amodei dismissed the political framing of the issue, stating that managing AI’s societal impact should be about “policy over politics.” He emphasised that Anthropic supports many of Trump’s AI initiatives, including the federal AI Action Plan and energy expansion efforts aimed at boosting America’s technological lead. He also pointed to Anthropic’s $200 million agreement with the Department of Defense, which he referred to as “the Department of War” in a nod to Trump’s preferred terminology, while offering the company’s Claude model to federal agencies.

Despite this cooperation, Amodei acknowledged that Anthropic’s willingness to challenge Silicon Valley’s anti-regulation stance has led to criticism. The company opposed a proposed 10-year ban on state-level AI regulation, arguing that such a measure would erode accountability. While many tech leaders warned that regulation could slow progress and benefit China, Amodei countered that the bigger threat is the unrestricted export of Nvidia’s AI chips to Chinese data centres. He added that Anthropic restricts sales to China-controlled entities despite losing potential revenue.

Amodei also defended the company’s support for California’s SB 53, which requires the largest AI developers to publicly disclose safety protocols. He noted that the law exempts most startups by setting a $500 million annual revenue threshold. “Startups are among our most important customers,” he wrote. “Claude is powering a new generation of AI-native companies. Damaging that ecosystem makes no sense for us.”

The Anthropic CEO concluded by highlighting the company’s rapid growth—from a $1 billion to a $7 billion run-rate in just nine months—while maintaining a focus on responsible deployment. “Anthropic is committed to constructive engagement on matters of public policy,” he said. “When we agree, we say so. When we don’t, we propose an alternative. The stakes of this technology are too great for us to do otherwise.”