Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei will join President Donald Trump for a private dinner at the White House on Sunday, CNBC confirmed. The gathering will be the first private meeting involving only the two leaders.
Amodei was absent from Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attended the event and were photographed with government officials.
A source familiar with the details said Amodei had a scheduling conflict. Trump then invited him to a private dinner, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Axios first reported the planned meeting. It arrives as Anthropic prepares for what is widely expected to be a blockbuster IPO and as its strained relationship with the Trump administration remains a serious challenge.
The White House framed the administration’s approach around American leadership and consumer protection. “President Trump has been clear: America will lead the world in Super Intelligence, while protecting American consumers,” an official said in response to CNBC’s inquiry about the dinner.
“We will drive innovation, strengthen American competitiveness, and ensure this transformative technology works for the American people,” the White House official added. The statement placed the administration’s emphasis on innovation, competition and practical benefits for Americans.
Amodei drew Trump’s anger earlier this month by publicly calling on the artificial intelligence industry to slow the development of advanced models and address potential risks more aggressively. He released a three step proposal and sought additional government oversight.
The proposal angered Trump, even as it received support from Altman and Musk. Trump responded on Truth Social by declaring that the only AI guardrails needed were a “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT” and accusing Amodei of pretending to be a “perfect little angel.”
Amodei was already in a difficult position with Trump because he supported Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election and had been a vocal critic of the president. Before his proposal shook the technology sector, however, Anthropic’s relationship with the administration appeared to be improving.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had temporarily imposed export controls on two of Anthropic’s most advanced models in June. Earlier this month, he told Axios that the company was “back on the right side.”
Lutnick also hosted a fireside chat with Anthropic cofounder and chief compute officer Tom Brown during the G20 Innovation Ministerial in North Carolina. Brown has recently assumed a more active role in the company’s dealings with the Trump administration.
Brown reportedly led Anthropic’s negotiations with the Commerce Department over the export control directive, replacing Amodei in that role. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Lutnick said, “We trust Anthropic.”
That same day, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios told CNBC that the administration was “in a good cadence” with Anthropic. He said the company was “open” and actively sharing models with the government under Trump’s voluntary AI executive order.
Anthropic has encountered greater resistance at the Department of War. Negotiations with the Pentagon unraveled in February after the company and military failed to agree on the permitted uses of Anthropic’s models.
The DoW sought unrestricted military access to the models for all lawful purposes. Anthropic wanted assurances that its technology would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance.
After the negotiations collapsed, the DoW designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, saying the company purportedly threatened national security. The designation prevents the military from using Anthropic’s models and blocks military contractors from using them in work with the agency.
Anthropic sued the Trump administration in an attempt to reverse the blacklisting. On Friday, a federal appeals court panel in Washington, D.C., upheld the Pentagon’s action, though Anthropic could seek a rehearing or ask the Supreme Court to hear the case.
Emil Michael, the DoW’s technology chief, celebrated the decision on X, writing that the “hammer of justice” had smashed Anthropic’s arguments. War Secretary Hegseth also reaffirmed his stance after previously accusing Anthropic of “duplicity” and trying “to strong-arm the United States military into submission.”