Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk publicly criticized artificial intelligence company Anthropic on Thursday, alleging that its AI systems demonstrate demographic bias and describing the company’s models as “misanthropic and evil.”
Musk’s remarks were posted on X in response to Anthropic’s announcement that it had secured a $30 billion funding round at a reported $380 billion post-money valuation — one of the largest private capital raises in the technology sector, second only to OpenAI.
Anthropic, led by CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, is best known for its Claude family of large language models, which compete directly with products developed by Musk’s AI venture, xAI.
Musk Alleges Bias in AI Outputs
In his response, Musk claimed that Anthropic’s AI models display racial and demographic prejudice, asserting that the systems disproportionately target specific identity groups.
“Your AI hates Whites & Asians, especially Chinese, heterosexuals and men,” Musk wrote, calling on the company to correct what he described as systemic bias.
He also criticized the company’s branding, suggesting irony in the name “Anthropic,” implying that its AI behavior contradicts humanistic principles. The post quickly generated significant engagement, drawing more than one million views within hours.
Ongoing Competition Between xAI and Anthropic
Musk’s criticism arrives amid intensifying competition in the artificial intelligence sector. His company, xAI, operates the chatbot Grok, which competes with Anthropic’s Claude models.
Tensions between the companies escalated last month after reports surfaced that Anthropic restricted xAI’s access to certain Claude systems. Musk previously commented that while Claude performs strongly in coding tasks, broader competition remains ongoing.
“Anthropic has done something special with coding,” Musk wrote earlier this year. “It was a helpful motivator that they cut us off.”
In separate posts, Musk reiterated his view that the company’s name could prove ironically fitting if bias concerns persist.
Broader AI Industry Rivalries
The remarks also reflect Musk’s wider disputes within the AI industry, including his ongoing public exchanges with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Last month, Musk reacted to claims circulating online that OpenAI’s ChatGPT had been linked to multiple deaths, warning users against relying on the chatbot. Altman responded by referencing Tesla’s autonomous driving technology, escalating the exchange between the two executives.
The latest funding secured by Anthropic positions it among the most highly valued private technology companies globally, underscoring the escalating capital race in artificial intelligence development. Representatives for Musk, Anthropic, and OpenAI were not immediately available for comment at the time of publication.
