Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei sharply criticised the US government and leading chip manufacturers, including Nvidia, during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, after Washington approved the sale of high-performance AI chips to approved Chinese customers.
Last week, the U.S. administration cleared exports of Nvidia’s H200 chips and certain AMD chipsets to China. While not the most cutting-edge chips accessible, they are still powerful enough for artificial intelligence work, making the decision controversial.
Amodei issued a warning that enabling such exports could seriously harm U.S. national security.
Amodei argued that the United States remains ahead of China in chip-making capabilities and that selling the cutting-edge chipsets could minimize the benefit.
He described AI models as a kind of “cognition” with greater strategic significance, likening future AI systems to “a country of geniuses in a data center.”
According to Amodei, allowing rivals access to powerful chips could have long-term consequences.
His remarks gathered significant attention because Nvidia is not only Anthropic’s key technology partner but also a major investor, having recently committed nearly $10 billion to the company.
Only a few months ago, both firms announced a close collaboration to streamline each other’s technology.
Amodei went as far as comparing the chip exports to selling weapons to hostile states, a statement that stunned many in the audience.
Despite the strong language, Anthropic appears confident, backed by billions in funding and increasing influence in the AI industry.
The episode shows how intense and high-stakes the global AI race has become, with leading industry players growingly willing to speak bluntly about policy and security concerns.
