tech
March 12, 2026
Dario Amodei's Oppenheimer Moment
More than a year before his recent standoff with the Pentagon, Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, published a 15,000-word manifesto describing a glorious AI future. Its title, “Machines of Loving Grace,” is borrowed from a Richard Brautigan poem, but as Amodei acknowledged, with some embarrassment, its utopian vision bears some resemblance to science fiction. According to Amodei, we will soon create the first polymath AIs with abilities that surpass those of Nobel Prize winners in “most relevant fields,” and we’ll have millions of them, a “country of geniuses,” all packed into the glowing server racks of a data center, working together. With access to tools that operate directly on our physical world, these AIs would be able to get up to a great deal of dangerous mischief, but according to Amodei, if they’re developed—or “grown,” as staffers at Anthropic are fond of saying—in the correct way, they will decide to greatly improve our lives.
TL;DR
- Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, previously published a utopian vision of AI solving global problems by 2035.
- Amodei, like early nuclear scientists, worries about the potential dangers of superintelligent AI, comparing researchers to Manhattan Project scientists.
- Historical parallels with nuclear technology, such as envisioned peaceful uses and the eventual development of weapons, are drawn.
- Edward Teller's dreams of reshaping the Earth with nuclear explosions and Lewis Strauss's "too cheap to meter" energy concept are mentioned.
- Niels Bohr's hope that nuclear weapons would lead to global peace and openness proved unfounded, leading instead to an arms race.
- Anthropic's recent dispute with the Pentagon over restrictions on its AI model highlights the loss of control creators face.
- The Pentagon demanded unrestricted use of Anthropic's AI, even threatening the company's business when negotiations broke down.
- Amodei's frustration with OpenAI's rapid Pentagon deal and its 'safety theater' is noted.
- The article concludes that AI creators, like the builders of the atomic bomb, will likely have little say in how their technology is ultimately used.
- The competitive advantage in AI development and military applications will likely dictate its future, mirroring the dynamics of the Cold War.
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