Trump's AI Czar David Sacks Criticizes Anthropic's AI Risk Warnings as Fear-Mongering
David Sacks, Donald Trump's former White House AI Czar, publicly criticized Anthropic for releasing a 10,000-word research paper warning about catastrophic AI risks, accusing the company of fear-mongering to push for government regulation. Sacks highlighted what he called hypocrisy, noting Anthropic simultaneously warns about job displacement and AI dangers while hiring software engineers at $500,000+ annually and using AI to write 80% of its own code. The dispute reflects broader tensions between AI safety advocates and industry figures skeptical of existential risk narratives.
David Sacks, who served as Donald Trump's AI Czar, has publicly attacked Anthropic's latest research paper on artificial intelligence risks, claiming the company is using fear-mongering tactics to encourage government nationalization of frontier AI labs. Sacks pointed to what he characterized as contradictions in Anthropic's messaging: the company warns of severe economic disruption—including 10-20% unemployment within five years in fields like coding, finance, and law—while simultaneously advertising engineering positions paying $570,000 annually. Anthropic's new paper, titled "When AI builds itself," shifts focus from job displacement to existential risks posed by recursive self-improvement, where AI systems design and train their own successors without human oversight. The company cited internal data showing that as of May 2026, over 80% of code merged into its codebase was written by Claude, its AI assistant. Sacks interpreted Anthropic's warnings about AI dangers combined with continued aggressive development as a strategy to prompt government intervention, writing that the company wants "the government to save us from… you."
What's missing
The article does not provide Anthropic's direct response to Sacks' criticism or clarification of how the company reconciles its safety warnings with its hiring and development practices. Additionally, the specific content and main arguments of Anthropic's 10,000-word paper beyond recursive self-improvement are not detailed.
What different sources said
- Times of IndiaCenter
After slamming Anthropic for AI-led layoffs David Sacks responds to startup’s latest 'warning'
Related
BYD Demonstrates Ultra-Fast 9-Minute EV Charging Technology at UK Headquarters
BYD showcased its Flash Charge technology at its West London headquarters, charging a Denza Z9 GT from 10% to nearly 100% in nine minutes using 1,500kW peak power. The system uses CCS 2 connectors compatible with most EVs and includes on-site battery storage to reduce grid demand. BYD plans to deploy 6,000 Flash Charging stalls globally by end of 2027, with 3,000 in Europe and 300 in the UK, potentially offering charging at under 50 pence per kilowatt-hour.
Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 Model Blocking Harmless User Requests with Overly Strict Safety Filters
Anthropic's newly released Claude Fable 5 AI model is refusing to respond to innocuous user prompts, including simple greetings like "hello," due to overly conservative safety guardrails. The company acknowledged the issue and stated that false positives occur in less than 5% of sessions, but has not provided exact refusal rates. The problem affects millions of users and has generated numerous bug reports and complaints from researchers and developers.
Open-Source Raspberry Pi Project Recreates Retro VCR Interface for Modern Media Playback
Developer Anthony Caccese has released 240-MP, an open-source Raspberry Pi project that creates a vintage VCR-style interface for playing local media files and Plex libraries on CRT or modern screens. The project runs on Raspberry Pi 4B, 3B+, and 3B models and supports navigation via remote control or keyboard. The tool addresses nostalgia for older display formats while enabling modern streaming functionality.