President Trump is boarding Marine One to conduct a 10 PM sit-down with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to discuss artificial intelligence strategy. This meeting follows an attempt by an unknown party to provide the president with a highly negative briefing on Amodei, which reportedly cites the CEO's ties to Democrats and a disputes with the Pentagon. Trump confirmed the dinner is on his way back from Chicago, noting that he plans to host a larger meeting with a broader group of AI industry leaders on Tuesday.

The first one-on-one meeting marks a reversal in relations after Trump mocked Amodei's preference for slower AI development in September and administration officials labeled the CEO's philosophy as "cultish." Trump has since signaled a focus on maintaining the U.S. lead over China, which he estimates is 1 to 1.5 years, while rejecting the idea that frontier models "going rogue" should slow the industry. The rapprochement comes as the U.S. and China establish a hotline and regular talks for AI incidents.