AI giant Anthropic is going through a doable head-on collision with the Trump administration — as considerations from conservatives multiply that the fast-growing firm carries a left-wing bias, The Post has realized.
Investors in the San Francisco-based company — recognized for its well-liked Claude chatbot — embody the Ford Foundation, a notoriously left-leaning group that purchased $5 million value of Anthropic shares in March 2024 in the chapter of disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto empire, according to little-noticed court filings.
Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance called out the Ford Foundation by title while vowing to “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is a distinguished donor to Democrats. Getty Images for HubSpot
That’s after Anthropic lately irritated Trump officers by barring federal contractors from utilizing its instruments for some law enforcement functions. Some at the White House have grumbled that Anthropic, whose CEO Dario Amodei is a distinguished Democratic donor, could be “selectively enforcing its policies” due to differing political beliefs, Semafor reported.
Taken collectively, the two information factors are seemingly to invite unwelcome scrutiny for Anthropic — even as rivals including Sam Altman’s OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI have labored to curry favor with the White House, a source close to the Trump administration said.
“When [the White House] is looking for a collaborative partner and suddenly they start being obstinate over White House objectives, and it comes to surface that they got a significant investment from a hostile political organization – which is what I would consider the Ford Foundation to be – I think you’re going to see a lot of eyebrows being raised,” the source added.
Anthopic’s backers embody Amazon and Google. REUTERS
Anthropic, whose backers embody Amazon and Google, is competing with OpenAI, xAI and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta for everything from profitable federal contracts to crafting potential federal rules around AI.
But even before the newest flap over AI utilization by federal contractors, Anthropic’s relationship with the White House – and key administration officers like AI czar David Sacks – was already seen as shaky at best.
Anthropic’s Amodei called Trump a “feudal warlord” in a now-deleted social media post expressing support for Kamala Harris forward of the 2024 election. In 2018, he described Trump as a “serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law.”
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s sister, Daniela, has a long historical past of donating to Democrats. ANTHROPC
During a May episode of the well-liked “All In” podcast, Sacks said Anthropic was half of group of tech “doomers” that he described as “committed leftists” and “Trump haters” with ties to the efficient altruism motion, which once counted Bankman-Fried among its elite backers.
Sacks also pointed out that several ex-Biden administration staffers had joined Anthropic and that Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, a Democratic megadonor, was half of its board of administrators.
Amodei was one of the few tech honchos who skipped Trump’s inauguration in January, though he did attend an administration occasion about vitality coverage in Pittsburgh in July.
White House AI czar David Sacks has said Anthropic is half of a group of tech “doomers” that are “committed leftists.” REUTERS
He has also raised the hackles of some AI leaders with frequent warnings about the technology’s dangers. Amodei has said executives and politicians should stop “sugar-coating” the mass layoffs that could happen due to AI and instructed unemployment could hit 20%. He’s also warned of a 25% likelihood that issues go “really, really badly” for humanity as AI gets more superior.
Daniela Amodei, his sister and a fellow co-founder of Anthropic, has a long historical past of donating to Democrats, embody Harris, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
“When it comes to policy and trying to foment the golden age of American economic dominance, the White House is looking for partners who want to put America first and want to work together collaboratively,” the source close to the White House added.
Anthropic has expressed support for the White House’s AI Action Plan. Christopher Sadowski
Despite its variations with the administration, Anthropic has secured a quantity of federal contracts – including a $200 million contract with the Department of War and a partnership with the US General Services Administration.
Anthropic has also expressed support for the White House’s AI Action Plan, declaring it was “encouraged by the plan’s focus on accelerating AI infrastructure and federal adoption, as well as strengthening safety testing and security coordination.”
The White House did not reply to requests for remark.
Anthropic’s valuation was just $18.4 billion in early 2024. But as of earlier this month, Anthropic had secured an $183 billion post-money valuation. Depending on the share construction, that means Ford Foundation’s stake, while tiny in contrast to key backers like Google and Amazon, has seen a big increase in worth over the last 12 months.
Anthropic has secured a quantity of federal contracts, including a $200 million contract with the Pentagon and a partnership with the US General Services Administration. Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
An Anthropic spokesperson said the Ford Foundation represents a small fraction of the firm’s general investor base. Ford does not have any affect over Anthropic’s coverage positions or business actions, the spokesperson added.
“We are committed to protecting America’s lead in AI, defending and upholding America’s democratic values, and contesting the advance of authoritarian adversaries,” the Anthropic spokesperson said. “As part of that commitment, Anthropic was an early mover in deploying AI for national security and intelligence work, and we work with the intelligence community in many different capacities.”
The spokesperson also pushed back on the notion that Anthropic has a rift with the Trump administration.
Vice President JD Vance called out the Ford Foundation by title, vowing to “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Getty Images
While Anthropic’s insurance policies bar the use of its AI instruments for “direct domestic surveillance and related collection of data,” a number of federal law enforcement businesses “are currently using Claude for research, analysis, and other use cases.”
Other AI giants, including OpenAI, Microsoft and Google, have insurance policies limiting use of their AI instruments for surveillance functions.
A Ford Foundation spokesperson said: “Like any other passive investor in a company, the Ford Foundation has no role in Anthropic’s management or business activities.”
Vance, who co-hosted an episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show” after the assassination, alleged that the Ford Foundation and the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations had offered funding to progressive magazine The Nation.
The vice president slammed the outlet for misrepresenting Kirk’s phrases in an article titled “Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning.” In response, Open Society said it never funded The Nation, while Ford Foundation said it hasn’t funded the outlet since 2019.
The allegation was half of a bigger pledge by Vance to goal progressive teams that he accused of stoking a rise of left-wing violence.