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World
President Donald Trump stated that he does not view Anthropic as a threat to U.S. national security following recent government restrictions on foreign access to its AI models.
President Donald Trump declared that he does not consider the company Anthropic a threat to the national security of the United States. This statement came days after his administration took measures to restrict foreign nationals' access to the company's latest artificial intelligence models.
In a recorded interview published on Friday by Axios, Trump expressed his belief that Anthropic "acted with great responsibility" after the U.S. Department of Commerce ordered the company, led by CEO Dario Amodei, to obtain American approval before allowing any foreign citizen to use the "Fable 5" and "Mythos 5" AI models.
Trump added, "They responded to us very quickly, because you know the legal responsibility involved," noting that he met with Amodei and other technology executives on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday.
When asked whether he considered Anthropic and Amodei a national security threat, Trump replied, "Well, not now. But maybe a week ago."
The directive issued last week by the U.S. Department of Commerce to Anthropic represents the most significant government intervention to date in the operations of a startup in the artificial intelligence sector.
This directive poses a new challenge for Anthropic, which recently filed for an initial public offering and has a market valuation exceeding $900 billion.
In an effort to manage a growing crisis with the White House, Anthropic dispatched several senior employees to Washington to hold direct meetings with officials from the U.S. administration.
This week, senior technical staff from Anthropic met with Trump administration officials as part of the company's attempt to ease government concerns.
President Trump stated he would not shut down Anthropic, emphasizing that the United States leads China in the artificial intelligence race. He said in the interview, "I would have done it, but I am not sure it is necessary. I think the company has acted with great responsibility so far."
The dispute over access to Anthropic's new AI models is the latest episode in the ongoing confrontation between the administration and the company.
For months, Anthropic has been engaged in a dispute with the Pentagon regarding additional controls the company sought to impose on the military use of its AI tools.
In March, after contract negotiations collapsed, the Department of Defense declared that the company posed a risk to the supply chain and is currently seeking alternative providers for AI services for the armed forces.
