President Donald Trump plans to host Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for a private White House dinner Sunday, bringing the two men together for their first one-on-one meeting after months of friction between the company and the administration, according to sources familiar with the plans. The dinner precedes a broader meeting Tuesday at which Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are expected to sit down with leading artificial intelligence executives. Officials described Sunday’s gathering as an opening step toward those discussions, according to Axios.
Trump personally invited Amodei after last week’s state dinner, which drew several prominent technology executives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, one source said. Amodei missed that event because of a scheduling conflict.
Anthropic’s relationship with the administration has alternated between improving ties and renewed tensions. When the company raised the possibility of a private meeting months earlier, some administration insiders questioned how Amodei would get along with the president. “Dario’s a little too weird” for Trump, a senior official told Axios at the time.
NEW – Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says their Claude AI model has led to the discovery of a “new molecular machine” capable of gene editing pic.twitter.com/8F9hfqTWMy
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) September 23, 2026
Amodei’s public profile has grown alongside scrutiny of his views on AI safety. The latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” satirized his manner and emphasis on the technology’s risks, while Trump allies recently circulated internal talking points highlighting his ties to effective altruism and what they characterized as the movement’s peculiarities.
A White House official said: “President Trump has been clear: America will lead the world in Super Intelligence, while protecting American consumers.” The official added: “We will drive innovation, strengthen American competitiveness, and ensure this transformative technology works for the American people.”
Sunday’s dinner gives Amodei a chance to build a direct relationship with a president whose personal ties carry considerable weight in his administration, as Anthropic seeks a stronger footing in Washington’s debate over artificial intelligence.
