Anthropic’s Amodei Meets Wiles and Bessent at the White House in First Step Toward Resolving Mythos Standoff
April 18, 2026 – 10:54 am
In short: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday in what the White House termed “productive and constructive” talks regarding access to Mython, a frontier AI model capable of identifying thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities. The meeting signals a potential resolution to the standoff that arose when the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic for refusing to lift safety restrictions, with any agreement likely excluding the Defense Department and routing Mythos access through civilian agencies.
Anthropic’s CEO entered the West Wing on Friday for discussions with Wiles and Bessent. The White House characterized the meeting as "introductory" yet described it as a productive and constructive exchange where they explored "collaboration opportunities" and shared protocols to address the challenges of scaling this technology. President Trump, surprisingly, told reporters he was unaware of the meeting’s occurrence.
The meeting represents a significant advancement in resolving a conflict that has left a prominent AI company blacklisted by its own government while the latter strives to gain access to its powerful model. A potential deal would likely exclude the Pentagon, directing Mythos access through non-military agencies not involved in the initial dispute.
Background:
The conflict began in late February when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded unrestricted access to Anthropic’s AI models for "all lawful purposes," including autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance. Amodei refused, stating that while they aim to collaborate with the military, current AI models are not reliable enough for autonomous systems and US laws need to adapt regarding mass surveillance using AI. In response, Hegseth blacklisted Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, akin to companies associated with foreign adversaries, effectively barring them from all government contracts.
Anthropic filed two federal lawsuits against the Trump administration in early March, alleging illegal retaliation. A judge initially halted the blacklisting but an appeals court overturned that decision on April 8th. Despite being barred from DoD contracts, Anthropic can still work with other government agencies. After the legal setback, they engaged Trumpworld consultants to facilitate a political resolution, leading to Friday’s meeting.
Sign up for The EU Tech Update, a weekly newsletter from our founder Boris, and stay informed about the latest developments in European tech. It’s free!