A sharply negative briefing about Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, is being circulated to the White House by his opponents ahead of a planned dinner with President Donald Trump, according to an Axios review of the document.
Why it matters
The document is aimed at a president who places a high value on loyalty and public praise. A Sunday night dinner between Trump and Amodei could open the way to repairing relations after a year of tensions, and the tenor of any pre-meeting material could influence that outcome.
What the brief says
- The memo portrays Amodei as having "a long record of attacking Trump" and as having "deep Democratic ties."
- It cites Anthropic's public falling-out with the Pentagon earlier this year as a clear example that Amodei does not trust President Trump.
- The briefing even adopts what it calls "Trump Talk," reproducing a line: "Dario claimed that AI would eliminate half of all entry-level white collar jobs as soon as this year. WRONG!"
The document is not an internal White House memo, and its origin is unclear. A source familiar with White House operations told Axios that the brief is intended for the president and is likely to reach him.
Background and stakes
The creators of the brief are appealing to an audience that rewards loyalty. Amodei’s prior failures to communicate effectively with the Trump administration have previously hurt Anthropic’s standing.
At the same time, the White House has reasons to engage: President Trump has been sharply focused on winning the AI race, and Anthropic is one of the firms at the technology frontier. The briefing notes that Anthropic is valued at "hundreds of billions of dollars" and that the company plans to go public soon, factors that make the company hard for the administration to ignore.
"The WH is trying to get everyone seated at the table," a source told Axios.
Bottom line
Both Anthropic and the White House stand to gain from a productive meeting, provided Amodei’s critics do not get their negative material in front of the president first. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Marc Caputo contributed to this story.)
