ISTANBUL
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman criticized rival artificial intelligence firm Anthropic on Thursday, arguing that it would be harmful for society if companies distance themselves from democratic institutions simply because they disagree with political leadership, CNBC reported.
“The government is supposed to be more powerful than private companies,” Altman told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference.
The remarks came amid growing tensions between Anthropic and US authorities. According to a report by The Information, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently told employees that the company had not offered “dictator-style praise” for US President Donald Trump, suggesting that OpenAI had taken a more accommodating stance toward the US president.
The dispute escalated after the Pentagon clashed with Anthropic on the potential use of the company’s AI models. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk to national security in a post on social media, while Trump ordered federal agencies to immediately halt the use of the company’s technology.
Shortly afterward, Altman announced that OpenAI had secured an agreement with the Pentagon. The move drew criticism from observers who said the timing appeared opportunistic. Altman acknowledged that the announcement may have looked poorly timed and said the company intended to avoid escalating tensions.
He said Thursday that the firm intended to de-escalate the situation.
“It is complicated, we are busy with other things,” said Altman. “But last week, when things started to get into a fight, it became increasingly clear to us that there was a chance things were going to go very badly.”
Amodei has since returned to negotiations with the Pentagon after talks collapsed last week because of the military’s potential use of the company’s artificial intelligence tools, the Financial Times reported.
Amodei is reportedly holding discussions with Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, in what sources described as a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement on the conditions governing the Defense Department’s access to Anthropic’s Claude AI models.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit research laboratory but gained global prominence after launching the ChatGPT chatbot in 2022. The company has since grown rapidly and last week announced a $110 billion funding round at a $730 billion pre-money valuation.
ChatGPT currently serves more than 900 million weekly active users, up from 800 million in October.
The company is competing with rivals, including Anthropic and Google, for dominance in the fast-growing artificial intelligence market. According to sources familiar with the firms’ finances, OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate recently surpassed $25 billion, while Anthropic’s has exceeded $19 billion, CNBC reported.