Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s volatile personality and propensity for public outbursts are causing growing concern among the AI giant’s shareholders, some of whom fear he is not equipped to steer the $380 billion company through its current difficulties, the Post reported.
Amodei, whose company built the Claude chatbot, made headlines last month when it criticized President Trump and OpenAI’s Sam Altman in an explosive internal memo. The document was sent hours after the Pentagon’s decision to blacklist Anthropic for refusing to lift safeguards on how its AI is used in military settings.
In a memo that was quickly leaked to the media, Amodei claimed that the Pentagon targeted Anthropic for not “praising Trump in a dictator-style way[while Sam does].” Similarly, he accused Altman of “blatant lies” in claiming to share Anthropic’s safety concerns and called OpenAI’s employees a “gullible bunch.”
One current Antropic shareholder, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Amodei’s harsh accusations were part of a “deeply disturbing” pattern unbecoming of a high-profile CEO who counts Amazon and Google among his blue-chip investors.
“You’re CEO King, who’s raised billions of dollars. You can’t just go on a rant and expect all shareholders to think the same way as you,” the shareholder said.
“What was striking to me was the aggressiveness of his opinion of Trump and the Pentagon, considering they were the only ones in the Pentagon with that technology,” the shareholder added.
The brilliant but eccentric CEO has often been controversial in public. He once warned that AI could push unemployment up to 20% and likened the White House’s decision to allow the sale of advanced AI chips to China to “the sale of nuclear weapons to North Korea.”
Shareholders added that Amodei has a habit of speaking out despite efforts within the company, usually by his sister and co-founder Daniela and policy chief Jack Clark, to control his impulses.
“They are trying to involve him, but he clearly cannot control his emotions,” the shareholder said.
Officials close to Anthropic pushed back on criticism of Amodei, noting that the company remains one of the fastest-growing companies in history and has received public support from multiple investors, including Altimeter, Menlo Ventures and Spark Capital, following a dispute with the Pentagon.
Amodei’s particular disdain for Altman was simmering even before he and a handful of close associates left OpenAI in 2021 to found Anthropic.
The feud came to light during a painfully awkward incident at a technology conference in India in February. The two rivals sat next to each other on stage alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, but refused to hold hands for a group photo as the crowd cheered.
Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei left OpenAI after a disagreement over what they felt was Altman’s reckless prioritization of business growth over AI safety measures. These concerns were further heightened after Altman decided to make ChatGPT publicly available in 2022.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Amodei brothers had a tense workplace relationship with Altman and fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman. In an outburst in late 2020, Altman accused his brother of encouraging colleagues to badmouth him on OpenAI’s board of directors.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Amodei remains highly critical of OpenAI and obsessed with defeating Mr. Altman, according to some insiders who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity, to the point that some researchers fear it is undermining the company’s actual mission.
Anthropic’s president also openly disrespected OpenAI’s employees, saying they were “under Sam’s spell” and could not be trusted as a result, shareholders said.
“It is clear that it is a personal vendetta, but their justification is their core belief that they cannot trust Sam to prioritize trust and safety,” the shareholder added.
One industry insider described his feelings toward his former boss-turned-rival as “Sama confusion syndrome,” a reference to Altman’s account handle at X, @Sama.
Antropic declined to comment.
Despite the turmoil, Amodei maintains a loyal following within Anthropic. The 43-year-old is known for hosting regular internal meetings called “Dario Vision Quest” (DVQ), where he gives his opinions on everything from AI policy and the company’s business to geopolitics and more.
Amodei later apologized for the Pentagon-bashing memo, saying, “Anthropic neither leaked this post nor directed anyone else to leak it,” adding, “It is not in our interest to escalate this situation.”
“A normal CEO would know, well, you’re taking a big risk by saying all this in writing,” the shareholder said. “But he’s blinded by self-love and love of intelligence and people around him who are like, ‘Yes, you’re God.'”
Anthropic is currently suing the Department of Defense over its “supply chain risk” designation, calling the U.S. government’s actions “unprecedented and illegal.” A senior Pentagon official argued that the tag was necessary because the Claude AI chatbot was trained using a fundamentally different ideology than what the Pentagon wants from its systems.
A federal judge on March 26 issued a preliminary injunction blocking the government’s ban.
A person close to Anthropic said the lawsuit was necessary to protect the company’s business interests, but the company remains committed to working with the government.
On the surface, Anthropic’s pursuit of a Department of Defense contract in the first place seems at odds with its AI safety focus.
But people familiar with the company’s thinking said it was part of Amodei’s efforts to ensure it was at the forefront of discussions about when and how to deploy advanced AI on the battlefield.
Critics, including former White House AI czar David Sachs, have long argued that Anthropic’s safety branding is actually an elaborate attempt at “regulatory cheating” (Silicon Valley jargon for crafting rules in such a way that a company benefits while rivals struggle).
Reuters previously reported that investors expressed support for Mr. Amodei during his dispute with the Pentagon, but as the situation worsened, some privately expressed frustration that Mr. Amodei’s comments antagonized the Trump administration.
On the eve of the deadline for an agreement with the Pentagon, Mr. Amodei publicly announced that Anthropic “could not in good conscience comply with their request.”
“This is a matter of ego and diplomacy,” one source told the outlet.
