Anthropic backers fret over AI giants volatile CEO Dario Amodei as billions hang in the balance | Latest Tech News

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s volatile persona and penchant for public rants has sparked growing issues among the AI giant’s shareholders – some of whom worry he’s ill-equipped to steer the $380 billion company through its current troubles, The Post has discovered.  

Amodei, whose firm constructed the “Claude” chatbot, turned heads last month when he blasted President Trump and OpenAI’s Sam Altman in an explosive inside memo. It was despatched hours after the Pentagon’s choice to blacklist Anthropic for refusing to take away safeguards on how its AI can be utilized in army settings.

In the memo — which was promptly leaked to media — Amodei claimed the Pentagon focused Anthropic for not giving “dictator-style praise to Trump (while Sam has).” He likewise accused Altman of telling “straight up lies” by claiming to share Anthropic’s security issues, and called OpenAI staff a “gullible bunch.”

One current Anthropic shareholder, who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity, said Amodei’s fiery diatribe was half of an “extremely concerning” sample that’s unbefitting of a high-profile CEO whose firm counts Amazon and Google among its blue-chip traders.

“You are a f—king CEO who has raised billions of dollars. You can’t just rant and expect all shareholders to have the same mentality that you have,” the shareholder said.

Dario Amodei cofounded Anthropic after exiting OpenAI. REUTERS

“The one thing that was striking to me is the aggressiveness of his opinions on Trump and the Pentagon – given that they were the only ones whose tech was being used in things at the Pentagon,” the shareholder added.

The brilliant-but-eccentric CEO has often courted controversy in his public appearances – once warning that AI might drive unemployment to 20% and likening the White House’s choice to enable sale of superior AI chips to China to “selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.”

Amodei has a behavior of talking out despite inside efforts – normally by his sister and fellow cofounder Daniela and coverage chief Jack Clark – to restrain his impulses, the shareholder added.

“They try to reel him in but he clearly cannot control his emotions,” the shareholder said.

A source close to Anthropic pushed back on the criticism of Amodei, noting that the company stays one of the fastest-growing in historical past and has obtained public help from a number of traders, including Altimeter, Menlo Ventures and Spark Capital, following its dispute with the Pentagon.

Amodei’s specific disdain for Altman has simmered since before he and a handful of close allies left OpenAI to discovered Anthropic in 2021.

Sam Altman and Dario Amodei refused to hyperlink fingers during a viral photograph op. AFP via Getty Images

Dario Amodei has accused Altman and OpenAI of performing “safety theater.” AFP via Getty Images

The feud was evident during a painfully awkward incident at a February tech convention in India. The two rivals had been positioned next to each other on stage alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, but refused to hyperlink fingers for a group photograph as the crowd cheered.

Dario and Daniela Amodei exited OpenAI after having disagreements with Altman, who they felt was recklessly prioritizing business growth over AI security guardrails. Those issues went into overdrive after Altman determined to release ChatGPT to the public in 2022.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Amodei siblings had office tensions with Altman and fellow OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman. One blowup occurred in late 2020, when Altman accused the siblings of urging colleagues to badmouth him to OpenAI’s board.

Behind the scenes, some insiders, who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity, say Amodei stays extremely vital of OpenAI and obsessed with beating Altman – to the level that some researchers worry it’s hurting the company’s precise mission.

Sam Altman’s OpenAI has since struck a deal with the Pentagon. Getty Images

The Anthropic boss is also brazenly disdainful of OpenAI staff, saying they’re “under Sam’s spell” and untrustworthy as a outcome, the shareholder said.

“It is very clear it is a personal vendetta, but their justification is their core conviction that Sam can’t be trusted with prioritizing trust and safety,” the shareholder added.

One well-connected industry source described Amodei’s emotions toward his former boss-turned-rival as “Sama Derangement Syndrome” – a reference to Altman’s account deal with on X, @Sama.

Anthropic declined to remark.

Despite the upheaval, Amodei maintains a loyal following inside Anthropic. The 43-year-old is understood to host common conferences that are referred to internally as “Dario Vision Quests,” or DVQs, where he holds forth on every thing from AI coverage and company business to geopolitics and past.

Amodei has since apologized for the Pentagon-bashing memo, stating that “Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so” and that it was “not in our interest to escalate this situation.”

The Pentagon, led by War Sec. Pete Hegseth, lately blacklisted Anthropic. Getty Images

“Any normal CEO would know that like, f—k, I’m risking a lot by saying this all in writing,” the shareholder said. “But he’s blinded by his own love of self and intelligence and those around him who are like ‘yes, you are God.”

Anthropic is presently suing the Pentagon over the “supply chain risk” designation and described the US authorities’s actions as “unprecedented and unlawful.” A top Pentagon official argued the tag was vital because the Claude AI chatbot was educated utilizing a basically different ideology from what the Pentagon needs for its systems.

A federal choose issued a preliminary injunction blocking the authorities ban on March 26.

The source close to Anthropic said the lawsuit was vital to shield the firm’s business pursuits, but it’s still centered on working alongside with the authorities.

On the floor, Anthropic’s pursuit of the Pentagon contract in the first place appears to contradict its AI security obsession.

However, sources acquainted with the firm’s pondering say it was half of Amodei’s attempt at guarantee his firm was at the forefront of the debate on how and when superior AI is deployed on the battlefield.

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei bashed President Trump and Sam Altman in a viral memo. AFP via Getty Images

Critics, including former White House AI czar David Sacks, have long alleged that Anthropic’s security branding is definitely an elaborate attempt at “regulatory capture” – Silicon Valley lingo for crafting the guidelines in such a method that they benefit and their rivals wrestle.

GWN beforehand reported that traders had expressed help for Amodei during the Pentagon spat, even as some privately expressed frustrations that he had antagonized the Trump administration with his rhetoric as the state of affairs spiraled.

On the eve of a Pentagon deadline to strike a deal, Amodei publicly announced that Anthropic couldn’t “in good conscience accede to their request.”

“It’s an ego and diplomacy problem,” one source told the outlet.

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