"He's blundered here. He's trying to set policy for the government on the use of AI through a sales contract." — Keith Teare on Dario Amodei
There's only one story this week: Dario Amodei's refusal to let the Department of War use Anthropic's best technology for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Silicon Valley rallied behind him. The New York Times covered it. Sam Altman publicly supported him—while quietly cutting his own deal with the administration. But Keith Teare thinks Anthropic is wrong.
Keith's argument is simple: vendors don't set policy. If you want to sell to governments, you can't then dictate what they do with your product. That's not your job. And by trying to do it, Amodei has alienated the entire US administration and created a fake battle that can only damage his company. Andrew is more sympathetic. In his view, Amodei is taking a political position against Trump—and in 2026, with Congress marginalized and corporations increasingly powerful, that's just the nature of things.
The debate cuts to something deeper: the power shift between corporations and the state. Oppenheimer couldn't say no to the government because he worked for them. Amodei can say no because he doesn't. These companies now speak to the government as almost equals. Meanwhile, Citruni Research released a white paper predicting AI will collapse the economy and destroy white-collar jobs. Jack Dorsey just cut 40% of Square's workforce. The stock jumped 25%.
Five Takeaways
• Keith: Amodei Has Blundered: Vendors don't set policy. By trying to do it through a sales contract, he's alienated the administration and created a fake battle.
• Andrew: This Is a Political Stand: Amodei is taking a position against Trump. He's kept his job. The investors are fine with it. That's astonishing.
• The Power Has Shifted: Oppenheimer couldn't say no because he worked for the government. Amodei can say no because he doesn't.
• Silicon Valley Is Split: Right libertarians vs. left libertarians. Tim Cook does whatever governments tell him. NVIDIA is navigating best.
• Jack Dorsey Cut 40%—Stock Jumped 25%: AI is already destroying white-collar jobs. The social contract between capital and labor is breaking.
About the Guest
Keith Teare is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and publisher of That Was The Week, a weekly tech newsletter. He is a co-founder of TechCrunch.
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:10 Amodei's clash with the Department of War
00:02:14 Keith: Anthropic is wrong
00:03:31 Should Anthropic just refuse to sell to governments?
00:04:42 Who controls policy—corporations or Congress?
00:06:08 OpenAI's $110 billion and the Altman deal
00:07:56 Oppenheimer couldn't say no. Amodei can.
00:10:00 Khosla: What about Putin and Xi?
00:11:43 America as declining power—pre-WWI parallels
00:15:15 Palmer Luckey, autonomous weapons, democracy
00:19:22 Silicon Valley splits: right libertarians vs. left libertarians
00:20:13 Ezra Klein's interview with Jack Clark
00:22:06 Who's navigating best? NVIDIA.
00:24:19 Tim Cook and the Apple model
00:28:11 Citruni Research: AI will destroy white-collar jobs
00:30:54 Jack Dorsey cuts 40% of Square—stock jumps 25%
00:33:04 Is Amodei unsophisticated or admirably naive?