Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to Dine with President Trump at the White House

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, is scheduled to have a one-on-one dinner with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Sunday evening. This meeting, confirmed by Trump, marks the first direct interaction between the two individuals. Reports indicate that the dinner follows a period of tension between the artificial intelligence startup and the Trump administration. Trump has publicly stated his opposition to slowing the pace of AI development, emphasizing that new regulations could allow China to surpass the United States in AI advancements. During an interview with Fox News, Trump mentioned, "We’re about maybe a year and a half up on China," and highlighted the importance of maintaining a technological advantage. The dinner comes shortly after a federal appeals court upheld a Pentagon decision to classify Anthropic as a "supply chain risk," which restricts the US military from utilizing its models. This classification followed the startup's refusal in February to permit its tools for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance. Trump also criticized Amodei for advocating a pause in AI development, suggesting that he was trying to appear overly compliant. Amodei did not attend a recent state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, which included other AI industry leaders, such as Sam Altman from OpenAI. Despite increasing calls to slow AI development due to potential risks, the US government maintains that leading AI companies must continue to advance to prevent China from gaining an advantage. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are expected to meet with prominent AI executives on Tuesday.