Anthropic CEO calls out Nvidia and U.S. on AI chip exports

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei didn’t hold back. In front of the global elite, he called out Nvidia and the U.S. government for approving AI chip sales to China — and the remarks carried weight because Nvidia is not just a supplier, but a major investor in Anthropic.

Chips, geopolitics, and AI’s “genius country”

Last week, the U.S. administration reversed an earlier ban and greenlit sales of Nvidia H200 GPUs and certain AMD chips to approved Chinese customers. These aren’t the absolute bleeding-edge chips, but they’re high-performance AI processors — the kind that make advanced models possible.

Amodei didn’t mince words:

“I think this is crazy. It’s a bit like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea and bragging that Boeing made the casings.”

He warned that shipping these chips could backfire on U.S. strategic interests, painting a vivid picture of the stakes: a future where AI models are like a “country of geniuses in a data center”, with 100 million people smarter than any Nobel laureate under the control of a single nation.

The implication is clear: AI chips aren’t just tech — they’re national security assets.

Nvidia in the hot seat

Here’s the twist: Nvidia isn’t just any chipmaker. Its GPUs power Anthropic’s AI models across Microsoft, Amazon, and Google clouds. Nvidia also recently pledged up to $10 billion in investment into Anthropic. Yet Amodei didn’t shy away from criticizing the company for supporting a policy he sees as strategically reckless.

“The CEOs of these companies say, ‘It’s the embargo on chips that’s holding us back.’ I think it would be a big mistake to ship these chips,” Amodei told Bloomberg.

It’s a rare, high-profile public rebuke of a key partner — and it highlights the tension between AI innovation, geopolitics, and corporate interests.

Why it matters for AI and the market

1. Global AI race: The U.S. is trying to maintain a lead over China, but decisions like this chip export could shift the balance.

2. Corporate tightrope: Nvidia is caught between business growth and strategic caution — the backlash could pressure other tech companies to rethink partnerships and policies.

3. Investor and market signals: Anthropic’s bold statements underscore that AI isn’t just software; it’s strategic infrastructure, and geopolitical risks are real.

In short, this isn’t just about chips — it’s about who controls the brains behind AI, and the world is watching closely.