Dario Amodei, the cofounder and CEO of Anthropic, often demonstrates enthusiasm for artificial intelligence. In meetings, he frequently illustrates concepts on a whiteboard, showing the rapid growth of machine intelligence. He passionately describes Anthropic’s mission to develop an artificial general intelligence (AGI) that remains safe and beneficial, contrasting with other AI model builders. Although Amodei is crucial to the company, the most important contributor is an AI model named Claude.
Recently returning from Davos, where he predicted that AI like Claude will soon surpass human cognitive capabilities, Amodei and Claude face a new challenge. A Chinese company, DeepSeek, has developed an advanced language model at a fraction of the cost incurred by companies such as Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, causing a reevaluation of the current high-cost AI development approach.
Amodei, one of the early proponents of AI models based on large datasets, argued in an internal paper during his OpenAI tenure that feeding vast amounts of data, even if unrefined, could accelerate the development of powerful AI. This idea has led to substantial investments by leading AI firms. However, DeepSeek’s achievement suggests that powerful AI might not require extensive resources, potentially leveling the competitive field.
Despite this, Amodei is not concerned about being outpaced by lower-budget competitors. He believes the value of intelligence increases with efficiency, advocating for continued significant investments in achieving AGI. Following DeepSeek’s announcement, companies like OpenAI and Microsoft have maintained their plans to invest heavily in infrastructure.
Amodei’s primary focus is on safely reaching AGI, a challenge that led him and Anthropic’s founders to leave OpenAI due to differences with its leadership. At Anthropic, they work towards establishing global standards for AI models that prioritize human safety. They aim to demonstrate the feasibility of an AGI that is both ethical and effective, in what Amodei calls a “Race to the Top.”
Central to this mission is Claude, an AI model integral to Anthropic’s efforts. Although it remains unseen in their offices, Claude has been pivotal from its inception, continuously evolving to support the company’s objectives. If successful, Claude will guide humanity into an era of prosperity, though questions remain about its reliability.
Amodei shares leadership at Anthropic with his sister and cofounder. Their family history includes their parents’ move from Italy to San Francisco in the 1970s. Dario was born in 1983, followed by Daniela, and both have pursued impactful careers following the passing of their father, a leather craftsman, and the efforts of their mother, a project manager in library systems.
