Anthropic CEO Denies Banning Open-Weight AI

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei clarified on Monday that his company has never advocated for a ban on open-weight AI models. He emphasized that the focus should instead be on preventing authoritarian regimes from acquiring powerful AI chips and ensuring mandatory safety testing for all sufficiently capable models, regardless of whether they are open or closed.

Amodei's statement follows a letter from a coalition of tech companies, including Meta and Microsoft, urging policymakers to avoid premature restrictions on open-weight models. Anthropic, known for its proprietary Claude models, has faced criticism for its stance, especially after rival OpenAI supported the open-weight letter while Anthropic did not.

The company previously raised concerns with the U.S. Senate about alleged "distillation attacks" by Chinese companies like Alibaba. Amodei agreed with parts of the coalition's letter, acknowledging the benefits of open-weight models, such as increased customer control and competition, but disagreed with claims that they inherently favor defenders or aid in safeguard development.