The clash between artificial intelligence and politics just got personal. Anthropic finds itself in a heated regulatory standoff with the Trump administration, with AI czar David Sacks publicly branding the Claude creator as 'woke' and anti-administration. The dispute centers on state-level AI regulation, marking a sharp contrast to competitor OpenAI's approach and potentially reshaping the industry's relationship with federal oversight.
The AI industry's honeymoon with Washington just hit a major speed bump. Anthropic, the AI safety-focused startup behind Claude, is now locked in a very public battle with the Trump administration over how artificial intelligence should be regulated across America.
The conflict erupted when Anthropic opposed a key provision in President Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' that would have suspended state-level AI regulations. While competitors like OpenAI have generally aligned with federal deregulation efforts, Anthropic took a different stance - one that apparently didn't sit well with David Sacks, Trump's newly appointed AI and crypto czar.
Sacks didn't mince words in his criticism. The venture capitalist accused Anthropic of running a regulatory strategy based on 'fear mongering' and positioning itself as a consistent foe of the Trump administration. On social media, he escalated further, claiming the company is trying to 'backdoor Woke AI and other AI regulations.'
The timing is particularly sensitive given the industry's delicate dance with regulators. While OpenAI has largely embraced the administration's deregulatory approach, Anthropic's resistance suggests a fundamental disagreement about how AI oversight should work in practice.
Enter Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder whose backing carries serious weight in Silicon Valley. Despite being an investor in rival OpenAI, Hoffman publicly defended Anthropic this week, calling the company 'one of the good guys.' That endorsement from someone with skin in the competitive game speaks volumes about how the industry views this regulatory standoff.
CEO Dario Amodei fired back yesterday, rejecting the 'woke' characterization entirely. In carefully measured language, he insisted Anthropic remains aligned with the White House on 'key areas of AI policy' and shares goals with both the administration and lawmakers across party lines. It's the kind of diplomatic pushback that suggests the company is trying to cool tensions without backing down from its regulatory position.
