AI safety debate heats up as tech leaders call for regulation
Artificial intelligence regulation takes center stage as tech leaders warn of existential risks. Reporting from Washington, Bill Melugin highlights statements from Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei regarding rapid progress and rogue capabilities. The report also features criticism from David Sacks, who accuses companies of using safety concerns to avoid antitrust laws and form an industry cartel.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, has pushed for greater government regulation of AI in ways that echo elements of the Washington playbook employed by convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried during his time as a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, a review of public records shows.
Both Anthropic and Bankman-Fried poured millions of dollars into Washington influence campaigns while publicly arguing that government rules were needed to make their respective industries safer, although the money flowed through notably different channels. Critics in both industries have accused them of using regulation to strengthen their competitive positions. Bankman-Fried’s political operation later became part of a criminal case involving illegal campaign contributions, while Anthropic’s spending has consisted of disclosed lobbying and advocacy efforts.
Anthropic, for its part, denies this characterization. Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, later said his public posture on regulation was essentially “just PR” in a social media direct-message exchange published days after FTX collapsed.
Anthropic has been pushing Washington to put guardrails around the fast-moving AI industry, warning that increasingly powerful models could pose serious national security and public safety risks. CEO Dario Amodei has called for mandatory testing and auditing of advanced models, while the company has spent millions lobbying policymakers and backing groups that support tougher AI rules.
WHITE HOUSE MEETS AI FIRM ANTHROPIC AMID POLITICAL TENSIONS, PENTAGON DISPUTE
Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic, during an interview at Anthropic’s headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., on April 30, 2026. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The push comes as Anthropic is increasingly engaging with a Trump administration that has made rapid AI development and U.S. dominance in the technology a major priority, warning that falling behind could carry economic and national security consequences. Amodei joined other major tech executives at the White House on Sept. 29, where they signed a voluntary agreement outlining safety standards for companies developing powerful AI systems.
Before being convicted of fraud, Bankman-Fried lobbied Washington for a regulatory system for crypto led by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, presenting it as necessary to protect customers and bring clarity to the industry. He was a prominent supporter of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), legislation that would have created such a framework — with campaign finance records showing that he cut checks to the bill’s sponsors in the Senate.
At the time, some crypto advocates opposed the DCCPA as overly favorable to centralized exchanges such as FTX. Prosecutors later alleged that Bankman-Fried and his co-conspirators flooded the political system with tens of millions of dollars in illegal contributions as part of an effort to increase FTX’s influence in Washington and help advance favorable legislation.
Bankman-Fried justified his efforts on the grounds that public safety was at stake, using similar rhetoric to that employed by Anthropic in its quest to regulate AI development.
“We need regulatory oversight and customer protection,” he said on social media weeks before FTX collapsed. Testifying before Congress, he argued that crypto regulation should provide “system safety and soundness.”
GOP LAWMAKERS SMELL SOMETHING ELSE BEHIND BIG TECH’S AI DOOMSDAY WARNINGS: ‘SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON’
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried departs Manhattan Federal Court after an arraignment hearing on March 30, 2023, in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Anthropic has also pursued a lobbying strategy that calls for government regulation, warning lawmakers that advanced AI poses serious national security and public safety risks.
Amodei told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2023 that AI poses “extraordinarily grave threats to U.S. national security” and called for a mandatory “testing and auditing regime” with the power to block deployment of models found unsafe.
“Do you guys remember what Sam Bankman-Fried was doing when he was caught red-handed? Aggressively lobbying Washington to ban his competitors,” Brian Chau, the founder of a news platform that leverages AI to aid in investigations, said in response to a piece written by Amodei calling for federal AI regulation. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Anthropic’s pro-safety rhetoric, much like Bankman-Fried’s, is backed by large amounts of cash. The firm has spent close to $7 million on lobbying efforts from 2025 through the middle of 2026, per federal disclosures, and has set aside $40 million to Public First Action, a 501(c)(4) tied to the super PAC Public First, which is being spent to advance pro-regulation talking points.
“Anthropic is running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering. It is principally responsible for the regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem,” former Trump administration AI advisor David Sacks posted to X in October 2025, responding to Anthropic’s strategy.
DAVID MARCUS: BIG TECH INVENTED AI DOOMSDAY TO DUCK REAL LIFE PROBLEMS
Dario Amodei speaks at the “How AI Will Transform Business in the Next 18 Months” panel during Inbound 2025 Powered by HubSpot at Moscone Center on Sept. 4, 2025, in San Francisco. (Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot)
Much like some crypto advocates argued that the Bankman-Fried-backed DCCPA would have harmed his smaller competitors, Anthropic has been accused of supporting bills, namely California’s SB 53, that allegedly would harm less established AI labs.
In the face of criticism, Anthropic has maintained that its commitment to public safety is genuine and pushed back against claims that its legislative activity is disadvantageous to smaller competitors.
“Some have suggested that we are somehow interested in harming the startup ecosystem. Startups are among our most important customers,” Amodei wrote in October 2025, noting that SB 53 exempted companies with gross revenues below $500 million. While labs with revenue below the threshold are partially exempted, lower-income firms that use a certain amount of computational resources are still subject to transparency requirements under SB 53.
Brian Chau, founder and CEO of the AI-assisted investigative publication Effort News, has also compared Anthropic’s public messaging about unreleased models to Bankman-Fried’s messaging as FTX unraveled.
“I remember when FTX was going down SBF would make up a new cope narrative every week and all the FTX stans would instantly believe him,” Chau wrote in response to an article about an unreleased Anthropic model.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Anthropic and representatives for Bankman-Fried did not respond to multiple requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
