Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has publicly criticized OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over OpenAI's recent agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. Amodei claims Anthropic ended its own negotiations with the Pentagon because it insisted on explicit contractual bans against using its AI for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, which the DoD refused.
Amodei accuses OpenAI of engaging in "safety theatre" and misrepresenting its deal, arguing that OpenAI's "all lawful purposes" contract lacks sufficient safeguards. OpenAI counters that its contract explicitly excludes mass surveillance and that the DoD clarified such use is considered illegal.
The public dispute coincides with a reported surge in uninstallations of OpenAI's ChatGPT app and a rise in downloads for Anthropic's Claude app, suggesting consumer reaction to the military partnership.
Main Topics: Tensions between Anthropic and OpenAI; Ethical concerns over military use of AI; Contractual safeguards and public statements; Public and market reaction to the deals.
Tensions between two of the worldâs leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies seem to be intensifying. Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, has criticised rival OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman over the companyâs recent agreement with the United States Department of War.
In a message to employees, Amodei said the companyâs relationship with the American government had frayed because it was unwilling to cosy up to the administration and give âdictator-styleâ praise to Donald Trump, unlike other AI companies (read as: OpenAI)
Amodei ridiculed OpenAIâs approach to working with the US military, describing the companyâs position as âsafety theatreâ, according to a report by The Information.
âThe main reason [OpenAI] accepted [the DoDâs deal] and we did not is that they cared about placating employees, and we actually cared about preventing abuses,â Amodei wrote.
Also Read: ETtech Explainer: Anthropicâs rapid rise, Pentagon standoff and everything in between
The Anthropic CEOâs remarks followed the collapse of negotiations between the company and the Pentagon over the militaryâs request for unrestricted access to its technology. Anthropic, which already had a $200 million contract with the military, insisted that the DoD affirm that it would not use the companyâs AI to enable domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry.
Instead, the Pentagon reached a separate deal with OpenAI. Altman said the agreement would include protections relating to the same ethical boundaries that Anthropic had insisted upon.
Amodei disputed this claim in his staff letter, accusing OpenAI of misrepresenting the situation. In the message, he described the companyâs public statements as âstraight up liesâ and argued that Altman was wrongly âpresenting himself as a peacemaker and dealmaker.â
Anthropicâs concern largely centred on the Pentagonâs demand that the companyâs AI systems be available for âany lawful useâ. Instead, the company wanted stronger safeguards written directly into the agreement.
OpenAI, meanwhile, said its contract allows the use of its AI systems for âall lawful purposesâ. However, in a blog post, the company explained that discussions with defence officials clarified that domestic mass surveillance would not fall under that category.
âIt was clear in our interaction that the DoW considers mass domestic surveillance illegal and was not planning to use it for this purpose.â OpenAIâs blog post stated. âWe ensured that the fact that it is not covered under lawful use was made explicit in our contract.â
Some critics argue that laws can change over time, meaning activities currently considered illegal could later become permissible.
Adding to the debate, a report by Bloomberg said Altman told employees that OpenAI does not ultimately control how the defence department uses its technology, which seems to contradict the companyâs blog post. According to the report, he even suggested that Anthropicâs insistence on the matter may have contributed to the earlier tensions with the Pentagon.
Amodei also addressed public reaction to the dispute in his internal message, claiming that attempts to shape the narrative were not convincing to many observers.
âI think this attempted spin/gaslighting is not working very well on the general public or the media, where people mostly see OpenAIâs deal with the DoW as sketchy or suspicious, and see us as the heroes (weâre #2 in the App Store now!),â Amodei wrote to his staff. âIt is working on some Twitter morons, which doesnât matter, but my main worry is how to make sure it doesnât work on OpenAI employees.â
Following OpenAIâs defence deal, uninstallations of its chatbot surged 295% day over day on Saturday, with downloads of ChatGPT falling sharply as well. In contrast, Anthropicâs Claude climbed to the number one spot of free app rankings on the US Apple App Store during the weekend
In a message to employees, Amodei said the companyâs relationship with the American government had frayed because it was unwilling to cosy up to the administration and give âdictator-styleâ praise to Donald Trump, unlike other AI companies (read as: OpenAI)
Amodei ridiculed OpenAIâs approach to working with the US military, describing the companyâs position as âsafety theatreâ, according to a report by The Information.
âThe main reason [OpenAI] accepted [the DoDâs deal] and we did not is that they cared about placating employees, and we actually cared about preventing abuses,â Amodei wrote.
Also Read: ETtech Explainer: Anthropicâs rapid rise, Pentagon standoff and everything in between
The Anthropic CEOâs remarks followed the collapse of negotiations between the company and the Pentagon over the militaryâs request for unrestricted access to its technology. Anthropic, which already had a $200 million contract with the military, insisted that the DoD affirm that it would not use the companyâs AI to enable domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry.
Instead, the Pentagon reached a separate deal with OpenAI. Altman said the agreement would include protections relating to the same ethical boundaries that Anthropic had insisted upon.
Amodei disputed this claim in his staff letter, accusing OpenAI of misrepresenting the situation. In the message, he described the companyâs public statements as âstraight up liesâ and argued that Altman was wrongly âpresenting himself as a peacemaker and dealmaker.â
Anthropicâs concern largely centred on the Pentagonâs demand that the companyâs AI systems be available for âany lawful useâ. Instead, the company wanted stronger safeguards written directly into the agreement.
OpenAI, meanwhile, said its contract allows the use of its AI systems for âall lawful purposesâ. However, in a blog post, the company explained that discussions with defence officials clarified that domestic mass surveillance would not fall under that category.
âIt was clear in our interaction that the DoW considers mass domestic surveillance illegal and was not planning to use it for this purpose.â OpenAIâs blog post stated. âWe ensured that the fact that it is not covered under lawful use was made explicit in our contract.â
Some critics argue that laws can change over time, meaning activities currently considered illegal could later become permissible.
Adding to the debate, a report by Bloomberg said Altman told employees that OpenAI does not ultimately control how the defence department uses its technology, which seems to contradict the companyâs blog post. According to the report, he even suggested that Anthropicâs insistence on the matter may have contributed to the earlier tensions with the Pentagon.
Amodei also addressed public reaction to the dispute in his internal message, claiming that attempts to shape the narrative were not convincing to many observers.
âI think this attempted spin/gaslighting is not working very well on the general public or the media, where people mostly see OpenAIâs deal with the DoW as sketchy or suspicious, and see us as the heroes (weâre #2 in the App Store now!),â Amodei wrote to his staff. âIt is working on some Twitter morons, which doesnât matter, but my main worry is how to make sure it doesnât work on OpenAI employees.â
Following OpenAIâs defence deal, uninstallations of its chatbot surged 295% day over day on Saturday, with downloads of ChatGPT falling sharply as well. In contrast, Anthropicâs Claude climbed to the number one spot of free app rankings on the US Apple App Store during the weekend
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