Anthropic to investors: Trump hates us so much
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Anthropic is warning investors that it may continue to be a target of the Trump administration as it seeks one of the biggest IPOs in history — and that it has no plans of changing its behavior.
Why it matters: The filing doesn't name the president or his administration specifically, but the subtext is clear. Anthropic outlines the risk of being "disproportionately or selectively targeted" due to its positions on AI safety.
- That means politics could determine which models Anthropic releases, where it operates, which customers it serves and whether commercial partners continue doing business with it.
What's inside: The company's S-1 filing on Monday included warnings to investors about a myriad of high profile battles with the Trump administration and continued political scrutiny.
- "The political environment and our engagement with policymakers and public positions on AI regulation and safety could subject us to heightened scrutiny, political backlash, or disproportionate regulatory action," the S-1 filing states.
- Anthropic warned that its political advocacy and executives' public statements have made it and could continue to make it a target of government investigations and enforcement actions that "similarly-situated competitors" may not face.
Between the lines: Anthropic's clashes with the Trump administration have been as much about personalities as policy.
- Policy: The Pentagon earlier this year designated Anthropic a supply chain risk after Anthropic refused to lift restrictions on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, leading to an ongoing court battle.
- Communication: Over the summer, a breakdown in communication over AI risks resulted in the Commerce Department imposing export controls on Anthropic, effectively suspending customer access for weeks.
- Personality: Trump allies have focused on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as a central figure in "AI doomerism," with close ties to a broad movement far from the American mainstream they see as obsessed with AI safety.
- Transparency: Administration officials have repeatedly voiced frustration by what they see as the company's lack of transparency and timely communication about AI incidents.
The company has refused to yield on AI safety and also worked to patch up administration squabbles, including by dispatching co-founder Tom Brown to work with Trump officials. Amodei also attended a White House event last month.
In the filing, Anthropic didn't commit to changing the advocacy and policy positions that have landed it in the Trump administration's crosshairs.
- Anthropic says it has engaged in political advocacy, supported political organizations and publicly weighed in on AI policy and regulation, activities it expects to continue.
Catch up quick: Anthropic lists a multiple ongoing fights with the Trump administration, including:
- Ongoing litigation concerning the Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk, which could affect sales to government agencies and commercial partners.
- The reimposition of Commerce Department export controls, which could limit international sales, data center expansion and model availability.
- A Federal Trade Commission investigation that could impact how Anthropic designs and deploys models.
- Federal AI regulation that could slow down model releases, including the White House's pre-deployment framework.
- Potential antitrust scrutiny over its partnerships with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Broadcom.
The bottom line: Anthropic and the Trump administration have struggled to mend their rocky relationship, with repeated attempts at reconciliation falling short as the company increasingly becomes a political foil ahead of the elections.
