Musk says Anthropic chief is ‘projecting’ amid debate over AI consciousness

Elon Musk dismissed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s suggestion that the company’s Claude model may exhibit signs consistent with consciousness, calling the claim “He’s projecting” in a post on X. Amodei told the New York Times that Anthropic is exploring model “interpretability” and has observed activations associated with concepts like anxiety, while emphasizing uncertainty over whether AI systems can be conscious.
The exchange comes as the Trump administration ordered federal agencies to phase out Anthropic technology, following the company’s resistance to allowing the Department of War to use its AI for “all lawful purposes.” Anthropic has cited concerns over mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the department will designate Anthropic a supply-chain risk to national security and cut commercial ties within six months. The dispute underscores growing tensions between AI vendors imposing safety guardrails and U.S. defense demands for broader operational use.

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