By Hadas Gold, Alayna Treene, NCS
(NCS) — Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei visited the White House on Friday for a high-stakes assembly with the president’s high adviser, whereas his AI firm battles the Trump administration in courtroom for blacklisting its Claude AI mannequin.
Amodei met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, two sources accustomed to the assembly advised NCS. Axios first reported on the assembly.
The assembly happened because the US authorities is attempting to steadiness its hardline strategy to Anthropic with the nationwide safety implications of turning its again on the corporate’s breakthrough know-how – together with its Mythos tool that may establish cybersecurity threats but in addition current a roadmap for hackers to assault firms or the federal government.
The White House stated the assembly was “introductory,” calling it “productive and constructive.”
“We discussed opportunities for collaboration, as well as shared approaches and protocols to address the challenges associated with scaling this technology,” the White House stated in a press release Friday afternoon. “The conversation also explored the balance between advancing innovation and ensuring safety. We look forward to continuing this dialogue and will host similar discussions with other leading AI companies.”
Anthropic likewise known as the assembly “productive” on discussions about “cybersecurity, America’s lead in the AI race, and AI safety.”
“The meeting reflected Anthropic’s ongoing commitment to engaging with the U.S. government on the development of responsible AI. We are grateful for their time and are looking forward to continuing these discussions,” the spokesperson stated.
Until just lately, Anthropic’s Claude was the one AI mannequin obtainable within the Pentagon’s labeled community. But President Donald Trump just lately introduced the administration would sever ties with the corporate after Anthropic refused to again down on phrases that will permit the navy to make use of Claude for “all lawful purposes,” together with autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.
After a breakdown in talks over Claude’s use, the Pentagon went on to declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” a label solely used up to now for firms related to international adversaries. It would successfully blacklist Anthropic from the federal government.
Anthropic sued the Trump administration in response, and a federal choose in California final month blocked the federal government’s effort to “punish” Anthropic, saying federal companies exterior of the Department of Defense can’t use the availability chain threat designation to sever ties with the corporate. The authorities has appealed that ruling.
But two weeks later, the administration scored a victory on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which stated in a separate case introduced by Anthropic that it gained’t bar DOD from chopping ties with the corporate whereas that authorized problem performs out.
Intervening at this stage within the litigation, the appeals courtroom stated in its unanimous resolution, “would force the United States military to prolong its dealings with an unwanted vendor of critical AI services in the middle of a significant ongoing military conflict.”
The Pentagon has stated it desires unfettered entry to Claude for “all lawful purposes,” as a result of it wants full freedom to make use of these instruments, particularly in wartime. Anthropic has argued that it desires to work with the navy, however that AI fashions are simply not but dependable sufficient for use in autonomous weapons, and that US legislation has not caught up to have the ability to defend Americans round AI’s use in mass surveillance.
Meanwhile, Anthropic introduced a forthcoming highly effective AI mannequin known as Mythos, that it and consultants have warned may very well be a “watershed” second for cybersecurity, permitting choose teams to get early entry to evaluate their cybersecurity threat.
The Office of Management and Budget has already advised companies it’s making ready to provide them entry to Mythos to arrange, Bloomberg reported. Axios reported the White House can also be in dialogue to achieve entry to Mythos. Anthropic declined to remark on whether or not the Trump administration was working to check Mythos.
Public filings show Anthropic just lately employed the lobbying agency Ballard, the place Wiles labored for years. The disclosure exhibits Ballard was particularly employed for “advocacy regarding [Department of War] procurement.”
“The White House continues to proactively engage across government and industry to protect the United States and Americans. This includes working with frontier AI labs to ensure their models help secure critical software vulnerabilities,” a White House official advised NCS. “Any new technology that would potentially be used or deployed by the federal government requires a technical period of evaluation for fidelity and security. The collective effort of all involved will ultimately benefit industry, and our country, as a whole.”
NCS’s Devan Cole and Kristen Holmes contributed reporting.
The-NCS-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
This story was up to date with further content material.