Donald Trump to host Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for private White House dinner

Private dinner at the White House

President Donald Trump will host Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei for a private dinner at the White House on Sunday evening. The one-on-one meeting will be the first direct discussion between the two leaders, who have publicly clashed over artificial intelligence policy. The encounter comes two days after a federal appeals court in Washington ruled against the startup in a dispute with the federal government. Amodei recently called on American companies to slow the pace of AI development and urged global cooperation on safety standards. Trump has rejected such warnings, describing concerns over AI risks as a Democratic hoax and calling for the technology to be branded super intelligence.

Clashes over Pentagon contracts and safety

Tensions between the Trump administration and Anthropic escalated earlier this year during negotiations over a $200 million contract regarding military applications. Amodei insisted on ethical guardrails that prohibited the use of Anthropic software in autonomous killing and mass surveillance. Following that impasse, the Department of Defense designated the company a supply chain risk to national security in late February, effectively barring government contractors from working with the firm. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials criticized Claude as woke AI. In June, the White House also forced Anthropic to suspend access to two of its models for two and a half weeks over security concerns, prompting company co-founder Tom Brown to negotiate with officials.

Trump attacked Amodei on social media earlier this month regarding the CEO's regulatory stance.

The Trump Administration has stopped AI 'people' from doing bad, or potentially bad, 'things,' like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a 'perfect little angel.' And we will continue to do so!

Broader administration engagements with tech leaders

The private dinner precedes a scheduled White House meeting on Tuesday between Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and leading AI executives. During that Tuesday session, the administration plans to discuss technology policy and unveil a new federal website intended to assist citizens with government information. Amodei previously missed a state dinner last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where tech leaders including Elon Musk of SpaceX, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Sundar Pichai of Google were present. Axios reported that a scheduling conflict prevented Amodei from attending that banquet. Anthropic, which makes the Claude chatbot, plans to launch an initial public offering by the end of this year.

Competing pressures ahead of the talks

Ahead of the Sunday dinner, an external brief began circulating among administration allies targeting Amodei, according to Axios. The document asserted that Amodei maintains deep ties to Democrats and questioned his commitment to the administration's goals. Despite those criticisms, some administration officials have advocated for a more cautious posture toward artificial intelligence development. A White House official stated that Trump remains focused on maintaining the United States as the preeminent AI power while ensuring systems protect domestic consumers and interests. Both the White House and Anthropic declined to provide on-the-record comments regarding the private meeting.