'Bitterly ironic': Trump is wrecking his AI agenda with Anthropic spat, lobbyists and ex-officials say

Tech lobbyists, investors and a former Trump adviser are all warning the White House that its deregulatory, export-driven AI agenda is on shaky ground after it hammered a top U.S. company.

Anthropic is an American artificial intelligence company founded in 2021. It develops Claude, a family of large language models. | Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration’s push to punish the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is undercutting the United States’ plan to boost American technology and dominate its spread worldwide, according to industry advocates and a former top Trump adviser on AI.

Fears of further escalation in the fight between the Pentagon and Anthropic over limits on military use of AI have already sparked major uncertainty for tech companies working with the government, roughly a dozen industry representatives, investors and former government officials told POLITICO.

They said the sector would suffer even greater damage if the administration designated Anthropic as a risk to the military supply chain — an action the Defense Department formally took Thursday. Anthropic has said it would fight any such designation in court.

© Politico