Claude’s Export Controls, Trump’s Jail Talk: A Plot Twist Crypto Fans Can Follow

President Donald Trump said his administration threatened to send the head of a major AI company to jail over alleged misconduct, but declined to identify the executive or provide evidence. In a 60 Minutes interview on November 8, Trump said the Department of Justice became involved after someone was reported for doing something harmful with AI. “We called them very strongly and said, ‘Get ready to go to jail. Please give your wife a kiss good night,’” he said. Trump added that the executive subsequently “totally changed everything.” Asked whether the person led a major AI company, he replied, “One of the big ones. Yeah.”

Trump’s account closely resembles a dispute involving Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. On June 12, the White House confronted Anthropic over security concerns involving its Claude Fable 5 model after Amazon flagged vulnerabilities that could potentially allow users to bypass the model’s safeguards. Anthropic disputed the severity of the findings. A September 20 Politico investigation reported that Amodei initially resisted government demands to take the model offline and that an increasingly frustrated Trump told officials, “I want to send them to jail.” Politico described the jail remark as an internal statement and did not establish that Amodei personally received a criminal threat.

The administration then used Commerce Department export controls to restrict access to Anthropic’s models, forcing the company to suspend them. On June 19, Trump was directly asked in an exclusive Axios interview whether Anthropic or Amodei represented a national-security threat. He answered, “Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe,” and added, “People get put in prison immediately for that.” Trump also praised Amodei’s response, saying the CEO had acted quickly and responsibly.

Anthropic confirmed on June 30 that restrictions had been lifted following additional technical safeguards and discussions with officials. “Export controls on Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 have been lifted,” the company said. Trump’s November account did not name the executive, and the earlier reporting did not prove that the threats in his account were directed at Amodei.