London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is seizing on the recent row between the Pentagon and Anthropic, inviting the AI firm to expand in the city while criticizing the administration for trying “to intimidate and punish Anthropic”.
Khan addressed a letter to Anthropic boss Dario Amodei, praising the company for holding its stance on preventing the government from using its tools for mass surveillance or for fully autonomous weapons.
"It is extremely concerning to see this kind of behaviour, which is a clear attempt to intimidate and punish Anthropic for refusing to remove ethical safeguards. I applaud your steadfastness in the face of such pressure. It would be good to discuss how we could support you to expand operations further,” Khan wrote, according to the BBC.
“Anthropic’s approach to safety and governance reflects the principles we want to see embedded in frontier AI development – that innovation must be accompanied by robust safeguards and genuine public trust,” Khan added.
He also said that London would provide a “stable, proportionate, and pro-innovation environment,” allowing Anthropic to flourish.
“That is why I would welcome the opportunity to talk to you, not only about what AI safeguards you think are needed but also about how London could provide an even more significant location and platform for the future of Anthropic,” the mayor said, offering to meet Amodei when he is next in Britain.
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When asked about the letter, a White House spokesperson told the BBC: "As President Trump said, we will never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our United States Military fights wars".
The maker of Claude was designated a supply chain risk and blacklisted from working with government agencies. Following the move, European policy makers, who are looking for ways to ditch US technologies, started actively inviting Anthropic to relocate to Europe, citing its better alignment with stringent European Union (EU) regulations.
According to The Times, Anthropic has about 200 staff in London. Last year, former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also joined Anthropic as a senior adviser.
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