Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei will have a private dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House on Sunday, a meeting confirmed by CNBC. This marks their first one-on-one encounter, following Amodei's notable absence from a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping due to a scheduling conflict, where other tech leaders like Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, and Mark Zuckerberg were present.
The dinner is particularly significant for Anthropic as the company is preparing for a highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The meeting offers Amodei an opportunity to ease tensions with the Trump administration, which has had a strained relationship with Anthropic over the past year. A White House official stated that America aims to lead the world in "Super Intelligence" while protecting consumers, driving innovation, and strengthening competitiveness.
The relationship between Amodei and Trump has been rocky, with Amodei recently angering the president by advocating for a slower pace of AI development and increased government oversight. This position, however, garnered support from other industry leaders like Altman and Musk. The meeting also follows a period of friction, including a contract dispute with the Pentagon and export controls imposed on Anthropic's Mythos model by the Commerce Department. Trump has been critical of what he termed an "AI backlash" and has pushed to rebrand the technology as "super intelligence."
