Leaked messages show Anthropic CEO acknowledges $100B+ Middle East funding helps “dictators”

Leaked Slack messages reveal Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei acknowledging that accepting funding from Middle Eastern governments would benefit “dictators,” despite his company’s commitment to ethical AI principles. The revelations expose how even AI companies that have built their reputations on ethical practices are abandoning those values to secure the massive capital needed for AI infrastructure expansion.

What you should know: Anthropic has long positioned itself as the ethical alternative to OpenAI, with its chatbot Claude guided by principles based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

• The company was founded by former OpenAI members with a stated commitment to advancing AI ethically and responsibly.
• Amodei previously cited national security concerns when denying Saudi Arabian funding last year, but is now reversing course as funding pressures mount.

What they’re saying: Amodei’s internal messages reveal his conflicted stance on taking Gulf State money despite ethical concerns.

• “This is a real downside and I’m not thrilled about it,” Amodei wrote about benefiting dictators through Middle Eastern funding.
• “Unfortunately, I think ‘No bad person should ever benefit from our success’ is a pretty difficult principle to run a business on,” he acknowledged.
• “There is a truly giant amount of capital in the Middle East, easily $100B or more,” Amodei noted, adding that “without it, it is substantially harder to stay on the frontier.”

The big picture: Anthropic is now actively pursuing funding from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, marking a dramatic shift from its ethical positioning.

• Amodei argued that taking money from Gulf countries is different from building infrastructure there, claiming it’s “dangerous” to hand “authoritarian governments” key AI hardware.
• He revealed plans to serve the Middle East “commercially,” which he believes is a “pure positive as long as we don’t build data centers there and as long as we enforce our [acceptable use policy].”

Industry context: The funding pressure reflects broader challenges across the AI industry as companies race to secure capital for massive infrastructure projects.

• OpenAI recently announced participation in Trump’s $500 billion Stargate AI project, backed by the UAE’s royal family despite their poor human rights record.
• Amodei accused the United States of having “failed to prevent” a “race to the bottom where companies gain a lot of advantage by getting deeper and deeper in bed with the Middle East.”

Why this matters: The leaked messages highlight how financial pressures are forcing even the most ethically-minded AI companies to compromise their founding principles, potentially undermining public trust in the industry’s commitment to responsible development.