The White House’s ”AI czar” just picked a fight with Anthropic, accusing the lab of “fear-mongering” its way to influence in the new regulatory order
David Sacks, White House artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto czar, during a White House event in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, venture capitalist and White House “AI czar” and advisor David Sacks took a swing at Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, after the latter posted an essay on Substack that pushed back against those downplaying the disruptive possibilities of AI. Sacks lambasted Anthropic and claimed the company was “fear-mongering” about the trajectory of AI development.
“Make no mistake: What we are dealing with is a real and mysterious creature, not a simple and predictable machine,” Clark wrote in Monday’s essay.
Sacks fired back a day later at the AI company. “Anthropic is running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering,” he wrote on X $TWTR. “It is principally responsible for the state regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Tensions between the White House and Anthropic appear to be brewing over the deployment and regulation of AI. Up until now, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has not attended White House events alongside other tech leaders who have been scrambling to cozy up to the Trump administration. Amodei was notably absent at a dinner that President Donald Trump hosted in early September for CEOs of tech companies such as Microsoft $MSFT, Google $GOOGL, and OpenAI.
Earlier this summer, Amodei urged the White House to abandon its push to limit AI regulation as part of its “One Big Beautiful Bill,” calling it “too blunt.” The legislation ultimately passed Congress without the provision that would bar states from enacting their own AI guardrails.
Anthropic has also reportedly imposed limits on how its AI technology can be used by the federal government. Semafor reported that the company rejected requests from federal law enforcement to deploy its AI for certain purposes, including domestic surveillance. Anthropic's rules explicitly bar clients from using its AI for that purpose.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
