Trump rejects AI limitations as anthropic not security danger
President Donald Trump stated that he does not consider Anthropic PBC to be a national-security threat, just days after his administration implemented measures to restrict foreign access to the tech company’s most advanced artificial intelligence models. In a pre-recorded interview released on Friday, Trump expressed his belief that Anthropic had “behaved very responsibly” following the directive from the Commerce Department, which mandated that the company, under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei, obtain US approval prior to permitting a foreign national to utilise its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models.
“He responded to us very quickly, because you know it’s tremendous liability,” Trump stated, noting that he met with Amodei and other tech executives at the Group of Seven Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday. When questioned about whether he perceives Anthropic and Amodei as a national security threat, Trump responded, “Well, not now.” However, it may have been just a week ago. The Commerce Department’s Anthropic directive, issued last week, signifies the most substantial intervention by the US government to date into the operations of an AI venture.
It presents a fresh challenge for Anthropic just weeks after the company submitted a confidential filing for an initial public offering, with its most recent valuation exceeding $900 billion. Anthropic’s senior technical staff convened with officials from the Trump administration this week in an effort to address the government’s apprehensions. The president stated that he would not close down Anthropic, contending that the United States is outperforming China in the artificial intelligence competition. “I would, but I’m not sure I have to do that. I think so far it’s been very responsible,” he stated during the interview.
The disagreement regarding access to Anthropic’s new models represents the most recent confrontation between the administration and the company. Anthropic has been engaged for several months in a dispute with the Pentagon regarding additional safeguards that the company has requested for the military application of its AI technologies. In March, following the collapse of contract negotiations, the Defence Department identified the firm as a supply-chain risk and is now pursuing alternative AI providers for the armed forces.
