Dario Amodei Apologizes After Pentagon Blacklists Anthropic as Supply Chain Risk

Dario Amodei Issues Groveling Apology for Daring to Criticize Trump

Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei seemed to be sticking to his guns as he insisted that his company's AI models not be used by the military to conduct mass surveillance of US citizens or control killer drones without human intervention. The CEO lashed out in an internal memo last week, which was leaked to The Information, accusing fellow OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman of bending the knee, claiming that he had given president Donald Trump "dictator-style praise" and bribing him with donations. The criticism put Anthropic in a precarious position. The other shoe finally dropped on Thursday, when the Pentagon officially designated Anthropic a supply chain risk "effective immediately," the first time a US company has ever been labeled as such. The unprecedented move is particularly bizarre because the Pentagon has reportedly been using Claude to select targets in its war on Iran. Now, Amodei has struck a drastically different tone, instead apologizing and groveling for the president's favor. "It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologize for the tone of the post," he wrote in an uncharacteristically brief Thursday statement published on the company's website. "It does not reflect my careful or considered views," a regretful Amodei wrote. "It was also written six days ago, and is an out-of-date assessment of the current situation." Amodei also said he regretted that the memo became public at all. "Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so -- it is not in our interest to escalate this situation," he wrote.T The AI company had "productive conversations" with the defense department, he said, "about ways we could serve the Department that adhere to our two narrow exceptions, and ways for us to ensure a smooth transition if that is not possible." Amodei insisted in the note that Anthropic still doesn't believe "that it is the role of Anthropic or any private company to be involved in operational decision-making -- that is the role of the military." "Our only concerns have been our exceptions on fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance, which relate to high-level usage areas, and not operational decision-making," he wrote. "Anthropic has much more in common with the Department of War than we have differences," Amodei offered. "We both are committed to advancing US national security and defending the American people, and agree on the urgency of applying AI across the government." Amodei's plea highlights how much pressure is on his company right now. But whether the mea culpa will be enough to patch things up with the Pentagon -- especially now that Anthropic has been turned into a red, blinking button that the government doesn't want any company to touch with a ten-foot pole -- remains to be seen.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei apologises for memo after 'disorienting' crisis

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has apologised for how he handled a crisis after an internal memo strained the company's relationship with the US government. In an interview with The Economist, he said events involving Donald Trump, the Department of War, and another AI provider unfolded within hours. Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, has apologised for the way he handled a recent crisis at the company, describing the period as one of the most "disorienting" moments in the company's history. He made the remarks in an interview with The Economist. In the internal memo, Amodei had said that Anthropic's relationship with the US government had frayed because the company was unwilling to cosy up to the administration and give "dictator-style" praise to US President Donald Trump. He contrasted this with the behaviour of other artificial intelligence companies (read as: OpenAI). Speaking with the publication's editor-in-chief, Amodei apologised for how the message had been written and shared. "I want to completely apologise for the memo. I want to make sure that people understand." "The President tweeted, removing all Anthropic services from the federal government. The secretary of war tweeted, designating us a supply-chain risk, with a broader version of the designation than the one that ultimately ended up being applied," he said. Amodei then referred to a third development in relation to OpenAI, though he avoided naming the company directly. He said that an agreement had been signed between one of the "other AI model providers" and the Department of War. He then pointed out that the provider (OpenAI) itself had described the deal as "opportunistic". After announcing the deal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman justified it, saying that the company was just trying to "de-escalate things" in order to "avoid a much worse outcome." Also Read: OpenAI amending deal with Pentagon: CEO Sam Altman Amodei said the sequence of events left the company scrambling to understand what was happening. "All of these three things had happened within a few hours in sequence with each other. We didn't know ahead of time what was going to happen, when it was going to happen," Amodei told The Economist. "So it was among the most disorienting times in Anthropic's history." Justification for the memo Although he apologised, Amodei clarified that the message should not be viewed as a carefully drafted statement. He even went so far as to say that he wouldn't even call it a memo. "I think Anthropic has an internal culture where I post a lot. Some people describe this as a memo; I wouldn't describe it as that. I post things in Slack, I post them a lot." "And the culture within the company is that I'm very free. It's not really a considered or refined version of my thinking. It's not what I would say on reflection," he added. When asked whether he had apologised directly to Trump or planned to do so, Amodei said he had already apologised to people he had spoken with inside the Department of War. He also said he would be open to speaking with others in the administration if needed. "I don't know what will happen in the future but I am really happy to speak to anyone," he said.

Anthropic CEO apologizes for lashing out at Trump as he gears up for...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has apologized for bashing the Trump administration in an explosive letter to staffers as he gears up for a court battle over the Pentagon's blacklisting of his AI firm. The exec said he's sorry for "the tone" of a 1,600-word internal missive that accused the Department of War of targeting Anthropic for not giving "dictator-style praise to Trump." "I also want to apologize directly for a post internal to the company that was leaked to the press yesterday," Amodei wrote in a note published on his company's website Thursday. "Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so -- it is not in our interest to escalate this situation." He went on to note his inflammatory comments came hours after Trump blasted Anthropic staff as "Leftwing nut jobs" and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on X he would designate Anthropic a "supply-chain risk." "It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologize for the tone of the post," Amodei wrote. "It does not reflect my careful or considered views." The Post has sough comment from the White House and Department of War. The Pentagon on Thursday reportedly told Anthropic about its pariah status, which bars the government from doing business with the AI company. The designation - which was previously reserved for foreign firms like Chinese tech giant Huawei - will require defense contractors to certify that they do not use Anthropic's AI models in their work with the government. It's unclear if the company will face broader restrictions after Hegseth said Anthropic would be barred from "any commercial activity" with any company that works with the feds - potentially including Lockheed Martin, Amazon and Google. Microsoft, which has plans to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, said Thursday that Anthropic's AI models will remain available to its customers, except the Department of War. Amodei claimed the "vast majority" of Anthropic's customers will not be impacted by the designation. "As we stated last Friday, we do not believe, and have never believed, that it is the role of Anthropic or any private company to be involved in operational decision-making - that is the role of the military," Amodei said in a statement Thursday. "Our only concerns have been our exceptions on fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance, which relate to high-level usage areas, and not operational decision-making," he wrote, adding that the company has been involved in "productive conversations" with the Department of War over the past few days. The exec also repeated Anthropic's threat to sue over the designation, stating, "we see no choice but to challenge it in court." Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon in July that made it the sole provider of AI models on the government's classified networks. But last week, Hegseth blasted the company for seeking exemptions on the use of its models, insisting that the Pentagon should be able to use AI tools for "all lawful purposes." OpenAI then announced it would step in to provide AI services to the Pentagon - stoking backlash from AI workers concerned about the risk of new tech being used for surveillance of citizens. In his memo to staffers later that day, Amodei said Anthropic was being punished because he didn't "donate to Trump" - while "OpenAI/Greg have donated a lot," referring to OpenAI president Greg Brockman, the Information reported. Amodei - who donated to Democratic former Vice President Kamala Harris' failed presidential campaign - blasted OpenAI and the Pentagon for allegedly smearing his company's name. "I want to be very clear on the messaging that is coming from OpenAI, and the mendacious nature of it," he wrote in the note. He added that "a lot of OpenAI and [Department of War] messaging just straight up lies about these issues or tries to confuse them," insisting that OpenAI's contract terms, for example, were never offered to Anthropic. Altman was "presenting himself as someone who wants to 'set the same contract for everyone in the industry,'" while "behind the scenes" working with the Department of War to replace Anthropic "the instant we are designated a supply chain risk," Amodei wrote. OpenAI's deal includes safeguards that are "maybe 20% real and 80% safety theater," he added. During a Morgan Stanley technology conference on Thursday, Altman pushed back on the criticism - and took a few jabs at Anthropic. "The government is supposed to be more powerful than private companies," he said, adding that it's "bad for society" if companies start abandoning their commitment to the democratic process because "some people don't like the person or people currently in charge." Altman acknowledged, however, that the timing of OpenAI's deal - which came just hours after talks with Anthropic fell apart - "looked opportunistic and sloppy."