U.S. dominance in chips may be the only advantage the country still has over China, and should be protected, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said at the Axios AI+ DC Summit on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Access to chips has become the hottest friction point between the world's two largest economies.
What they're saying: "It is mortgaging our future as as a country to to sell these chips to China," Amodei said.
The big picture: The U.S. has advanced plans to let U.S. companies like Nvidia and AMD sell chips to China, albeit with a cut of revenue off the top for the government.
- The tension in the industry remains between U.S. security interests and the reality that China already has lots of American-designed chips, and will keep pursuing domestic options as well.
Amodei comes down squarely on the side of the security interests.
- Asked about reports that Chinese authorities had told companies not to buy Nvidia's latest chips, Amodei said "whatever the dangers of the technology, whatever guardrails are needed, I think it's also very important that we defeat China in this technology."
- "This could control the fate of nations. This could control the future of freedom and democracy."
The intrigue: Amodei's position puts him in tension with the Trump administration, potentially moreso than other AI CEOs who have by and large deferred to the government's position on issues like export controls.
- "I think it could be the single most disastrous national security decision made in this term," he said.
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Editor's note: This story was breaking and has been updated with additional quotes.
