Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, warns that Chinese spies may be stealing valuable AI secrets from top U.S. tech firms. Speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event, he stressed that China’s history of large-scale industrial espionage makes AI companies, including Anthropic, likely targets.
“Some of these algorithmic secrets are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and consist of just a few lines of code,” Amodei stated. “I have no doubt that efforts are underway to steal them—and they might be succeeding.”
Amodei urged the U.S. government to take more decisive action to protect AI research from foreign threats. Although he did not specify the exact measures needed, he emphasized that stronger safeguards are critical.
Rather than responding directly to his remarks, Anthropic pointed to a recent submission it made to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In that document, the company called for federal agencies to collaborate more closely with AI labs. Specifically, it recommended that the government work with U.S. intelligence agencies and allies to strengthen security at leading AI research facilities.
Anthropic CEO’s Concerns Over China’s AI Development
Amodei has consistently voiced concerns about China’s AI progress. He has advocated for stricter U.S. export controls on AI chips bound for China and criticized the Chinese AI company DeepSeek for failing a key bioweapons data safety test conducted by Anthropic.
In his essay Machines of Loving Grace, he outlined his fears that China could use AI for authoritarian and military purposes. His stance aligns with a broader debate in the AI community. While some experts argue that the U.S. and China should collaborate on AI safety to prevent an uncontrollable arms race, Amodei believes national security risks take priority.
As AI technology advances, the battle to protect cutting-edge innovations has become a central issue in global geopolitics. The question now remains: will the U.S. take stronger action to secure its AI dominance, or will foreign threats continue to pose a growing risk?
