- Anthropic is on the verge of conflict with the White House over the military use of its technology.
- Vitalik Buterin urges Anthropic to continue challenging the Trump administration.
- Citrini Research’s report predicting an AI dystopia has shocked Wall Street.
“Don’t back down.”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sent this message to Anthropic as the high-stakes showdown between artificial intelligence companies and the White House over military applications of their technology reaches a climax this week.
OpenAI’s rivals argue that its tools should not be used for fully autonomous weapons platforms or for mass surveillance of American citizens, a position supported by Buterin.
“If they don’t back down and accept the consequences, my opinion of Anthropic will increase significantly,” Buterin told X, echoing Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
“It’s actually a very conservative and limited stance, not even anti-military,” Buterin said. “Fully autonomous weapons and massive privacy invasions are the last thing we all want.”
The Ethereum founder’s support comes as U.S. Army Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic a Friday deadline to grant the military broad access to the company’s AI models, escalating a standoff that could reshape the government’s AI supply chain. CNBC Reported.
If the company refuses, Hegseth has threatened to recommend designating Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” (a label typically given to foreign adversaries) or invoking the Defense Production Act, which gives broad powers to direct domestic industry in the name of national security.
Anthropic appears to be maintaining two red lines for now.
Anthropic’s marketing materials state, “As a safety-first company, we believe it is a shared responsibility to build reliable, trustworthy and secure systems.”
AI nightmare
Buterin’s support for Anthropic comes after a new report from Citorini Research that preached the risks of AI to global markets caused a stir on Wall Street this week.
The report, titled “The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis,” paints a dystopian picture posed by AI.
The report paints a scenario in 2028 where rapid advances in automation will massively replace software and delivery roles, driving the U.S. unemployment rate to over 10%.
The paper resonates with investors who are already questioning the overvaluation of AI stocks. Stocks in sectors sensitive to software and automation have been under pressure, with BlackRock’s flagship index down more than 27% this year.
What is anthropic?
Anthropic has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the technology industry, generating about 80% of its revenue from enterprise customers, and this month closed a $30 billion funding round at a valuation of $380 billion.
The company won a $200 million contract with the Department of the Army last year and until recently was the only AI company authorized to operate on classified U.S. networks.
Anthropic’s conflict with U.S. authorities intensified following reports that the company’s flagship product, Claude, was used with Palantir technology during a U.S. special operations raid in Venezuela.
Sam Bankman Fried, the disgraced FTX co-founder, was one of Anthropic’s early investors, investing $500 million in the AI developer before the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed.
Lance Datukoruo is DL News’ Europe-based market correspondent. Any tips? send him an email lance@dlnews.com.
