Senior officials from the Trump administration met with executives from the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic. The meeting comes amid tensions after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently advocated for slowing the pace of advanced AI development and introducing government regulations.
On September 15, Bloomberg reported that Emil Michael, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the U.S. Department of Defense, and Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce, held a video conference with Tom Brown, the Chief Computing Officer (CCO) of Anthropic. Brown, one of Anthropic's co-founders, has recently focused on the company's public affairs.
Both Anthropic and the White House declined to comment on the meeting, and specific details of the discussions were not disclosed. The meeting drew attention given Anthropic's differing stance on AI safety regulations compared to President Trump, who has expressed skepticism.
The video conference followed a lengthy blog post by Amodei on September 12, in which he called for the Trump administration to implement AI regulations. He argued for slowing the advancement of AI technology, suggesting that leading AI companies should establish safety standards voluntarily, while those that do not comply should face regulation.
This position garnered support from Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Elon Musk, CEO of xAI, but faced criticism from President Trump, who labeled it a "terrible hoax" and remarked that only China would welcome such measures. Trump also criticized Anthropic, suggesting they were pretending to be "perfect little angels."
Historically, Anthropic has had conflicts with the Trump administration over national security and AI safety issues. Tensions escalated earlier this year when the Department of Defense demanded that Anthropic expand the military use of its AI model, Claude, which the company refused. This led to the Department of Defense designating Anthropic as a "supply chain threat," resulting in legal disputes between the two parties. Anthropic has also faced conflicts with the Department of Commerce over national security issues, leading to temporary export controls on its advanced AI models, which were later lifted.
Amid these tensions, Brown has emerged as a key figure in mediating the relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration. He was involved in negotiations with U.S. authorities to lift export controls on Anthropic's advanced AI models. Last month, he appeared alongside Secretary Lutnick at a public event during a G20 meeting, where he praised the Trump administration's data center support policies. Business Insider referred to Brown as "Anthropic's political secret weapon" in early July.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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