TLDR: A liberal foundation, the Ford Foundation, holds a stake in AI company Anthropic, which has drawn criticism from the Trump administration for restricting its AI model’s use in certain law enforcement tasks. Vice President JD Vance has also publicly criticized the Ford Foundation for its alleged role in sowing political division.
WASHINGTON – A significant controversy has emerged involving the Ford Foundation, a prominent liberal organization, and its investment in Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence company. The Trump administration has expressed strong disapproval of Anthropic’s decision to restrict the use of its AI model for specific law enforcement applications, a move that officials believe ‘deepened hostility’ towards the company.
According to senior administration officials who spoke with Semafor, Anthropic declined requests from contractors working with federal law enforcement agencies. These officials accuse Anthropic of ‘selectively enforcing vague policies due to political considerations,’ suggesting the company is making ‘moral judgments about how law enforcement agencies conduct their business.’
Further fueling these concerns is the Ford Foundation’s ownership stake in Anthropic. The Ford Foundation acquired shares in Anthropic in 2024, in collaboration with Omidyar Network. Omidyar Network, led by Pierre and Pam Omidyar, are known Democratic donors who contributed $45 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund in 2020, an organization that supports various Democratic projects. The Omidyar Network stated their investment was for ‘social good,’ aiming to invest in ‘generative AI that protects and promotes the public interest and prioritizes the long-term benefit of humanity.’
The Ford Foundation has also faced direct criticism from Vice President JD Vance. On Monday, Vance vowed to ‘go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence,’ explicitly naming the Ford Foundation. He criticized such organizations for benefiting from ‘generous tax treatment’ while allegedly ‘setting fire to the house built by the American family over 250 years.’ Vance’s remarks were made in reference to an article in The Nation that he claimed misquoted Charlie Kirk. While The Nation denied current funding from the Ford Foundation, a Vance spokesman cited grant records showing a $100,000 donation from the Ford Foundation to The Nation’s internship program in 2019.
Anthropic, despite its leadership’s anti-Trump sentiments, has maintained business ties with the current administration. The Defense Department awarded Anthropic a ‘two-year prototype other transaction agreement with a $200 million ceiling’ earlier this year to ‘prototype frontier AI capabilities that advance U.S. national security.’ Additionally, in August, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced an agreement with Anthropic to provide ‘Claude for Enterprise’ and ‘Claude for Government’ (advanced AI large language models) to all three branches of the U.S. government for a nominal fee of $1, supporting the White House’s AI plan. Anthropic’s leadership, including co-founder and president Daniela Amodei, has also participated in administration events alongside President Trump.
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An Anthropic spokesman stated that the Ford Foundation’s stake is a ‘tiny fraction of our investor base’ and that they ‘do not dictate our positions or activities.’ However, key figures within Anthropic, such as new board member Reed Hastings (Netflix co-founder and major Democratic donor) and Daniela Amodei, have publicly expressed strong opposition to former President Trump. Amodei notably stated that ‘Trump represents a serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law’ and that ‘odds of things going well will be substantially improved’ if he were not elected in 2024. Journalist Gabe Kaminsky’s investigation in November 2024 also linked Omidyar to the ‘Governors Safeguarding Democracy initiative,’ a ‘Trump resistance’ effort.
