AI Rivalry Intensifies: Musk’s xAI and OpenAI Expand Commercial Reach as Anthropic Pivots to Government Contracts

Elon Musk has escalated his criticism of AI firm Anthropic, labeling it "misanthropic and evil" in a series of public jabs. His AI model, Grok, was deployed to generate insults targeting Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, including bizarre images of him covered in mayonnaise. The feud stems from a leaked internal memo where Amodei criticized the Trump administration, which Musk seized upon as evidence of ideological bias.

Anthropic's attempts to downplay the memo as a "casual Slack post" failed to quell the controversy. Meanwhile, Musk's xAI and Sam Altman's OpenAI have secured broader commercial agreements, offering their models for "all lawful purposes" without Anthropic's restrictive clauses. In a strategic pivot, Anthropic is now courting government contracts, including a nominal-cost deal with the Department of Defense to demonstrate national security utility.