Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm known for its work on advanced AI models, is preparing to seek funding from investors in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, according to a leaked internal message obtained by WIRED. CEO Dario Amodei reportedly shared the news in a Slack post to employees on Sunday morning.
In the memo, Amodei openly weighed the ethical dilemma of partnering with governments often labeled as authoritarian. “It’s a real downside and I’m not thrilled about it,” he wrote, referring to the likelihood that accepting such funding could indirectly benefit undemocratic regimes. He added, “Unfortunately, I think ‘No bad person should ever benefit from our success’ is a pretty difficult principle to run a business on.”
Anthropic’s shift comes amid an escalating race among AI developers to secure vast sums needed to build and maintain frontier model infrastructure. In January, rival OpenAI announced a $500 billion data center project, Stargate, backed in part by MGX—a UAE state-owned investment firm. The company later disclosed plans to build a facility in Abu Dhabi aimed at supporting sovereign AI development in partnership with the U.S.
In response to inquiries, Anthropic spokesperson Christopher Nulty said the company remains committed to maintaining a U.S.-based AI development pipeline. “As Dario has said before, we believe fundamentally in sharing the benefits of AI and serve the Middle East and regions around the world commercially, in line with our Usage Policy,” he stated.
The timing of the memo also intersects with broader geopolitical developments. In May, former President Donald Trump visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia during a four-day trip focused on fostering economic cooperation. He was accompanied by prominent tech executives including Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Notably, no representatives from Anthropic were present at that meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In the Slack post, Amodei acknowledged that the company would likely face accusations of double standards for reversing its stance. In a previous essay titled Machines of Loving Grace, he emphasized the need for democratic governments to set the terms for deploying advanced AI technologies in order to counter authoritarian influence and avoid enabling human rights abuses.
Back in 2024, Anthropic declined to accept investment from Saudi Arabia due to concerns around U.S. national security, according to a report from CNBC. That decision came as the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX auctioned off its 7.9% stake in the company. While most of those shares ultimately went to UAE-based ATIC Third International Investment, valued at approximately $500 million, Anthropic’s leadership said at the time that Saudi funding was off the table.
The latest internal communication, however, suggests a strategic pivot. Although it remains unclear whether the firm has changed its stance on Saudi Arabia specifically, Amodei wrote, “There is a truly giant amount of capital in the Middle East, easily $100B or more. If we want to stay on the frontier, we gain a very large benefit from having access to this capital. Without it, it is substantially harder to stay on the frontier.”
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