According to confirmation from CNBC, Dario Amodei will have a private meeting and dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House at 10 PM on Sunday. This first in-person conversation between the two sides comes amid a tense period in relations between Anthropic and the US administration.
The absence of Anthropic’s CEO from the state banquet for Chinese President Tap Con Thuan on September 24 drew widespread attention, especially with tech leaders such as Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, and Mark Zuckerberg all in attendance. An insider source indicated that Amodei was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict, and President Trump personally extended the invitation for this private dinner as a make-up gesture.
AI policy divide remains unbridged
Earlier this month, Amodei issued a public call for the entire industry to slow the pace of developing frontier models. He proposed a 3-step plan while urging greater government oversight. Although backed by Elon Musk and Sam Altman, the proposal drew fury from Trump.
Writing on the social media platform Truth Social, the former president argued that the best protection for AI is a smart and strong president. He attacked Amodei as someone who “pretends to be a perfect angel.” Furthermore, Trump stressed there is no basis to suggest the anti-AI movement is a Democratic maneuver, even though in 2024, Amodei publicly criticized him and voiced support for Kamala Harris.
Relations with the administration are diverging
On the positive side, the Department of Commerce has demonstrated clear support for Anthropic. Secretary Howard Lutnick affirmed that the company “has been on the right track,” while hosting a discussion with co-founder Tom Brown at the G20 Innovation Ministers Meeting and expressing full confidence in the firm. Although it had imposed export controls on two of Anthropic’s most advanced model lines in June 2026, the Department of Commerce subsequently lifted the restrictions. Sharing this view, Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios assessed that the cooperative relationship between the administration and Anthropic is progressing well.
In stark contrast, Anthropic’s relationship with the US Department of Defense has plunged into a severe deadlock. Negotiations between the two sides officially broke down in February 2026 over a fundamental disagreement: the Pentagon demanded full access to AI models for all lawful operations, while Anthropic firmly refused to deploy its technology for fully autonomous weapons systems or mass domestic surveillance programs.
Following the collapse of negotiations, the Pentagon took an aggressive step by placing Anthropic on a supply chain risk list, an unprecedented move intended to bar the US military from continuing to use the firm’s products. Seeking to overturn the decision, Anthropic filed a lawsuit, but a judicial panel in Washington rejected the request and upheld the Department of Defense’s ruling on September 25. The company now faces the choice of filing for reconsideration or appealing to the Supreme Court.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth publicly criticized Anthropic as “two-faced” and accused the company of attempting to “force the US military to bend to its will.” This conflict unfolds at a sensitive time as Anthropic prepares for a highly anticipated IPO. Whether a private meeting on Sunday evening can ease tensions and shift perceptions from the Department of Defense, or whether the two sides will remain locked in a contentious legal battle moving forward, remains to be seen.