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Anthropic CEO disputes David Sacks’ claims that company is ‘woke’
Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei addressed “inaccurate claims” about the artificial intelligence startup’s policy stances on Tuesday after repeatedly facing criticism from David Sacks, the venture capitalist serving as President Donald Trump’s AI and crypto czar.
Amodei said the company is aligned with the Trump administration across “key areas of AI policy,” and that it is interested in working with “anyone serious about getting this right.”
“I fully believe that Anthropic, the administration, and leaders across the political spectrum want the same thing: to ensure that powerful AI technology benefits the American people and that America advances and secures its lead in AI development,” Amodei said in a statement.
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI executives, including Amodei, who left the company over concerns about safety. It’s one of the companies at the center of the AI boom, and its valuation has swelled to $183 billion in just four years.
The startup caught the attention of Sacks last week after Jack Clark, one of Anthropic’s co-founders and its current head of policy, published an essay called “Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear,” which sparked a debate online over regulation.
Sacks criticized the essay and accused Anthropic of “running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering,” in a post on X. He said the company is “principally responsible for the state regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem.”
Billionaire tech investor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman defended Anthropic on Monday, and called the startup “one of the good guys.” Hoffman was an early investor in OpenAI, Anthropic’s larger rival, and remains a shareholder. He revealed on Monday that Greylock, where he’s a partner, has invested in Anthropic.
Sacks quickly weighed in on Hoffman’s post, and the two sparred back and forth on Monday. In one post, Sacks wrote that the “real issue” is “Anthropic’s agenda to backdoor Woke AI and other AI regulations through Blue states like California.”
Amodei’s statement on Tuesday served as a clear attempt to ease the tension.
“When we agree, we say so. When we don’t, we propose an alternative for consideration,” Amodei said. “We do this because we are a public benefit corporation with a mission to ensure that AI benefits everyone and to maintain America’s lead in AI.”
“Again, we believe we share those goals with the Trump administration, both sides of Congress, and the public,” he said.
WATCH: Watch CNBC’s full interview with White House AI czar David Sacks
