Trump hosts private dinner for Anthropic CEO amid AI spat
What's the story
US President Donald Trump hosted a dinner for Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Sunday night. The meeting comes after Trump's earlier criticism of both Amodei and his company over AI safety concerns. The Pentagon had also labeled Anthropic a "supply chain risk," leading to an ongoing legal battle with the Trump administration.
Prior comments
Trump's earlier criticism of Amodei and Anthropic
Before the dinner, Trump had slammed both Anthropic and Amodei for their efforts to slow down frontier AI development.
He had also mocked their calls for "guardrails" and government regulation earlier this month.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the only guardrails AI needed was a ""STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!"
Dinner details
'Amodei is highly respected': Trump
Speaking to reporters after landing at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday evening, Trump confirmed his dinner with Amodei.
He called the Anthropic CEO "highly respected," but did not reveal any specific agenda for their meeting.
The dinner was scheduled for 10:00pm (local time) and comes just before a White House gathering of AI leaders on Tuesday, September 29.
Scenario
Anthropic CEO was absent from recent White House gathering
Trump's dinner with Amodei also comes days after the president hosted several leading AI executives at the White House for a state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The gathering brought together prominent technology leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, as AI emerged as a key area of discussion between Washington and Beijing.
Anthropic CEO, however, was notably absent from the guest list.