Anthropic continues discussions with senior Trump administration officials, even after the Pentagon recently labeled the company a supply-chain risk.
Initial indications suggested a less strained relationship, with some parts of the administration not seeking to isolate Anthropic. Reports indicated that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell were advocating for major bank leaders to evaluate Anthropic’s new Mythos model.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark appeared to confirm these developments, asserting that the dispute regarding the supply-chain risk label constitutes a “specific contracting disagreement” that would not hinder the company’s readiness to inform the government about its newest models.
Subsequently, on Friday, Axios revealed that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had met with Bessent and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The White House characterized the encounter as an “initial meeting” that proved “effective and positive.”
The White House stated, “Discussions covered potential areas for cooperation, along with mutual strategies and guidelines for managing the complexities involved in expanding this technology.”
In a parallel development, Anthropic released a statement affirming Amodei’s meeting with “high-ranking administration officials for a constructive dialogue on collaboration between Anthropic and the U.S. government regarding critical mutual priorities like cybersecurity, maintaining America’s leadership in AI, and AI safety.”
The company further expressed its anticipation of “continuing these dialogues.”
The disagreement between Anthropic and the Pentagon appears to have originated from unsuccessful talks concerning the military’s application of Anthropic’s AI models. Anthropic aimed to enforce protective measures regarding the deployment of its technology for completely autonomous weapons and widespread domestic surveillance. (In contrast, OpenAI swiftly revealed its own military agreement, which triggered some negative public reaction.)
Following this, the Pentagon officially designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk. This classification is typically applied to foreign adversaries and could significantly restrict government agencies from utilizing Anthropic’s models. The company is currently contesting this label legally.
However, it appears that the broader Trump administration does not share the Pentagon’s antagonistic stance, as an administration insider informed Axios that “all agencies,” with the exception of the Department of Defense, are interested in employing the company’s technology.