That OpenAI ended up creating its most dangerous rival, Anthropic, could one day be one of the defining stories of the tech industry.<\/p>\n
In a detailed report, Sam Altman biographer Keach Hagey<\/a> digs into the history of the split. The official narrative is that OpenAI wasn’t taking safety seriously enough<\/a> for the team that would go on to found Anthropic, and according to Hagey, there’s plenty of evidence to support that version of events.<\/p>\n But her account also reveals that the breakup ran deeper than ideology: personal slights, power struggles, and a constant feeling of being overlooked, especially in the relationship between Greg Brockman and Dario Amodei.<\/p>\n According to the report, early conflicts included a debate over whether AGI could one day be sold to governments or the nuclear powers on the UN Security Council. Amodei found the idea completely unacceptable. Brockman did not.<\/p>\n The dispute later escalated over control of the language model projects. Amodei was one of the key figures behind GPT-2 and GPT-3 and apparently tried to keep Brockman’s influence over that work to a minimum. At the same time, according to Hagey, he repeatedly felt sidelined, whether it was visibility, recognition, or access to important meetings, like being left out of a meeting with Barack Obama. By the end of 2020, Dario and Daniela Amodei left the company with several other OpenAI employees to start Anthropic.<\/p>\n Time 2016 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 End of 2020 2021 To this day The rivalry still shapes the AI industry today<\/p>\n The conflict between OpenAI and Anthropic continues to play out in the open as competition for talent, capital, and customers, but more than anything as a fight over how A(G)I should be developed and brought to market.<\/p>\n According to Hagey, Anthropic internally sees itself as a “healthier alternative” to OpenAI, with people at the company comparing Altman’s operation to the tobacco industry. When OpenAI picked up a Pentagon deal that Anthropic had walked away from, Amodei reportedly called Altman “mendacious” internally. According to the report, he wrote that the events pointed to “a pattern of behavior that I’ve seen often from Sam Altman.”<\/p>\n Amodei also called Greg Brockman’s $25 million donation to a pro-Trump Super PAC “evil,”<\/a>\u00a0though his own company has\u00a0done its share of cozying up to the Trump <\/a>administration\u2014although\u00a0the Pentagon fallout made it pretty clear where Anthropic actually stands<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even during Altman’s brief removal as CEO<\/a>, there were internal accusations\u00a0that he had been manipulative and dishonest<\/a>. After his return, however, an\u00a0internal investigation cleared him of those charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tAI News Without the Hype \u2013 Curated by Humans<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tAs a THE DECODER subscriber, you get ad-free reading, our weekly AI newsletter, the exclusive “AI Radar” Frontier Report 6\u00d7 per year, access to comments, and our complete archive.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nEvent
\nSignificance<\/p>\n
\nDario Amodei joins OpenAI; early philosophical differences with Greg Brockman emerge.
\nThe fundamental conflict begins: safety and caution vs. growth and aggressive development.<\/p>\n
\nAfter internal crises and departures (partly tied to Elon Musk), Amodei loses trust in parts of OpenAI’s leadership.
\nDisagreements turn into a leadership and trust crisis.<\/p>\n
\nDispute over control and influence in the language model projects.
\nThe conflict shifts to power, responsibilities, and recognition.<\/p>\n
\nAccording to the report, Amodei repeatedly feels sidelined; management tensions escalate.
\nPersonal grievances and status issues deepen the rift.<\/p>\n
\nDario and Daniela Amodei and other employees decide to leave.
\nThe internal conflict becomes irreparable.<\/p>\n
\nAnthropic is founded.
\nA direct competitor emerges from OpenAI’s internal crisis.<\/p>\n
\nOpenAI and Anthropic compete over market share, talent, and the AGI narrative.
\nThe original split continues to shape the AI industry.<\/p>\n