The series of public statements by Donald Trump and the details of his clashes with Anthropic's leadership indicate that the administration's main target was the company's CEO, Dario Amodei — one of the most influential executives in the field of artificial intelligence.
In a November 8 interview, Trump said the Justice Department had gotten involved when a certain employee was caught engaging in dangerous actions with AI. He did not name the top executive at the time, but described the situation in his characteristic manner:
"We called them very strongly and said: 'Get ready for prison. Kiss your wife goodnight,'" Trump said, adding that after this the company's head "completely reconsidered the situation."
When asked a clarifying question about whether this person heads one of the largest companies in the AI industry, he replied: "One of the biggest. Yes." No concrete evidence was provided.
Timeline of pressure on Anthropic
On June 12, the White House held a review with Anthropic regarding security threats related to the Claude Fable 5 model. Amazon identified vulnerabilities that could theoretically allow bypassing the model's built-in restrictions — Anthropic called the assessment of these risks exaggerated. Amodei initially refused to comply with the authorities' demand to shut down the model, which caused sharp irritation from Trump: "I want to send them to prison."
Subsequently, the administration imposed Commerce Department export restrictions on Anthropic's models, and the company had to suspend access to them. The prison wording was used within the government, although no direct evidence of criminal prosecution of Amodei was provided.
On June 19, Trump directly linked Amodei to the prison theme. When asked whether Anthropic or its head personally posed a national security threat, he replied: "Not now, but a week ago — perhaps," adding: "People get jailed immediately for that." At the same time, he noted that Amodei's action deserved respect: the executive responded quickly and responsibly.
On June 30, the restrictions were lifted after additional technical measures were implemented and consultations with officials were held.
September: Trump named the name
The most explicit reference appeared on September 14. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that his administration had prevented AI company executives from taking potentially dangerous actions. He directly mentioned "Dario (Anthropic!)" and accused him of creating the image of a "perfect good boy," emphasizing that the authorities have "CRIMINAL AND REGULATORY powers over these companies!"
The sequence of events forms a clear line: in June, Trump considered the option of a prison term for Anthropic representatives, a few days later personally linked the situation to Amodei, and in September publicly named him. The official measures were taken by the Commerce Department, and no criminal charges were brought against Amodei. The White House, Justice Department, and Anthropic did not publicly confirm that the November statements relate specifically to this episode.
Cryptalist analysis: The case demonstrates a qualitatively new level of regulatory risk for the AI sector — direct personal threats against executives from the executive branch are becoming a tool of pressure alongside export controls. For the market, this is a signal that legal uncertainty around leading AI developers may intensify regardless of formal charges, which increases the risk premium in the valuation of companies in the industry.