Ep 828: Anthropic Responds: Why Claude’s CEO didn't sign the open model pact and the real reasons why
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Anthropic finally responded as the last AI lab out in not supporting open source AI in the viral open weights and American AI leadership paper slash coalition. That's because Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amati, just published a letter defending the company's decision to not join the other players. And I think it's actually more about... Anthropix IPO than it is about open source. But here's the setup and the backdrop. Nvidia and Microsoft put out a letter four days ago defending open models, and basically everyone signed it. Meta, OpenAI, Google, IBM, everyone. And Anthropic was the only major tech player that said no. And late yesterday, Dario published Anthropic's answer in a blog post, and it opens by insisting they've never wanted to ban open models, which is technically true in writing, but not really truly in line with their previous statements warning about how dangerous open models are and there should be government mandates for them.
Now here's the part that nobody's talking about. Why Anthropic is really trying to get DC lawmakers scared of Chinese open models. It's one number 80%. Yeah, that's roughly 80% of Anthropic revenues just comes from businesses paying per token. While the other big players have a fraction of that.
Why did Anthropic refuse to sign the Open Weights coalition?
So free downloadable Chinese open source models literally choke Anthropix only real source of revenue in Anthropix filed for an IPO targeting in October launch. Hence the reason why Anthropic zigged while every other tech company zagged when it came to supporting open source. So today we're breaking down not just what the letter says, but where it actually even contradicts Dario's own previous words and why I think this was written for Washington policymakers and not for you and me. All right, let's get into it. Here is the big picture. Anthropic is the only major AI lab that refused to defend open models in the Open Weights in American AI Leadership paper slash coalition that was put forth by Microsoft and NVIDIA.
Essentially, they said, well, open source is good for the American economy. It's good for national security. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that paper. But why? Well, Anthropic will tell you it's ultimately about safety and control, but I think it is that 80% number. And we're going to look at, well, it might not work very well if Anthropic can't get this essentially to go in their favor. And that's because their IPO is potentially only weeks away in October. So on today's show, stick with me and you're gonna learn why that 80% meter token revenue makes Anthropic uniquely exposed to open models. You're gonna know what the regulatory capture means when it comes to AI and why this letter just fits the pattern exactly.
You're going to know why the timing points at Washington, policymakers, because there's an important date coming up in just a couple of days. And I don't think this letter was made for me and you. And you're going to know what Dario said in 2025 that flatly contradicts today's letter. All right. Let's get into it. Welcome to Everyday AI. If you're new here, my name is Jordan. We do this, well, every day. It's your unedited, unscripted live stream podcast and free daily newsletter helping everyday business leaders like you and me keep up with the nonstop AI avalanche. I tell you what's important, what's not. You use that decision and all of a sudden, wow, you're the smartest person in AI in your company.
So it starts here, but please make sure to subscribe to the podcast and go to our website at youreverydayai.com. All right, let's get into it. This has been all the talk on tech, Twitter, and in the media, in anything AI, right? If you follow AI on a daily basis like I do, this conversation has been just... grabbing every single headline. And it's extremely important and also a little bit nuanced. So today's show, I'm going to try to go through it a little bit quicker, stick to just the facts.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:49
2
Why did Anthropic refuse to sign the Open Weights coalition?
1:49–25:58
3
What did Dario Amodei’s public letter actually say about open weight models?
25:58–38:50
4
How do modern Chinese open-source 'open weights' models differ from earlier open models?
38:50–39:24
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Everyday AI Podcast – An AI and ChatGPT Podcast
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