Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is pushing back on claims that his artificial intelligence company is too “woke” following a wave of criticism from the White House’s AI czar David Sacks.
Amodei, who has rankled Sacks and other critics with his frequent warnings of potential AI doom, insisted Tuesday that Anthropic is aligned with the Trump administration on “key areas of AI policy.” He also blasted what he called “a recent uptick in inaccurate claims” about the company’s policy stances.
“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.
As The Post has reported, Anthropic has faced mounting scrutiny in recent weeks over concerns the company has a liberal bias. The firm’s investors include the Ford Foundation, a left-wing group recently blasted by Vice President JD Vance for being part of what he called an “NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Ford Foundation bought the minor stake during bankruptcy proceedings for the doomed crypto firm FTX, which once owned a major chunk of Anthropic.
The San Francisco-based firm, known for its Claude chatbot, has also reportedly irked the Trump administration by barring federal contractors from using its tools for some law enforcement purposes. Amodei himself is a prominent Democratic donor who has been publicly critical of President Trump and supported Kamala Harris for president in 2024.
Sacks has been among Anthropic’s most vocal critics – alleging in a recent X post that the firm’s frequent warnings about the need for AI safeguards were just a bid to shape the industry for its own benefit.
“Anthropic is running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering. It is principally responsible for the state regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem,” Sacks wrote on Oct. 14.
Sacks’ comment drew a response from billionaire Democrat mega-donor Reid Hoffman, who has invested in Anthropic through his fund Greylock. Hoffman defended the AI company, calling the firm “one of the good guys.”
In response, Sacks took aim at Hoffman.
“The leading funder of lawfare and dirty tricks against President Trump wants you to know that ‘Anthropic is one of the good guys,’” Sacks wrote. “Thanks for clarifying that. All we needed to know.”
Sacks went on to allege that Anthropic wanted to “backdoor Woke AI and other AI regulations through Blue states like California.”
Amodei pushed back in his statement, noting that Anthropic has “publicly praised President Trump’s AI Action Plan” and recently secured a $200 million contract with the Department of War.
“Our longstanding position has been that a uniform federal approach is preferable to a patchwork of state laws,” Amodei said.
