Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, has ramped up private attacks on his former boss Sam Altman and the direction of OpenAI in recent months, using language that goes far beyond typical corporate rivalry.
In internal communications, Amodei compared the legal battle between Altman and Elon Musk to the fight between Hitler and Stalin, "Hvylya" reports, citing a Wall Street Journal investigation by Keach Hagey. He also called a $25 million donation by OpenAI President Greg Brockman to a pro-Trump super PAC "evil" and likened OpenAI and other AI rivals to tobacco companies knowingly selling a harmful product.
The sharp language reflects Anthropic's internal brand positioning as the "healthy alternative" to its AI competitors. When the two companies recently clashed over Pentagon AI contracts, Amodei wrote a blistering Slack post calling OpenAI "mendacious" and saying the situation showed "a pattern of behavior that I've seen often from Sam Altman."
Both Anthropic and OpenAI are now valued at more than $300 billion, and both are racing toward initial public offerings. The personal animosity between their leaders dates back to their time together at OpenAI, which Amodei and several co-founders left in late 2020 over safety concerns - and unresolved personal grievances.
At an AI summit in New Delhi in February, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led assembled tech leaders in joining hands and raising them above their heads. Altman and Amodei opted out, instead awkwardly touching elbows.
Earlier, "Hvylya" reported on how Musk's xAI and OpenAI moved to replace Anthropic as the Pentagon's AI backbone.