Anthropic's feud with Trump admin boosts business adoption
Original: Anthropic’s latest feud with the Trump admin may actually help it, sales data suggests
Why This Matters
Demonstrates paradoxical effect where regulatory restrictions and safety concerns may enhance business demand for AI models positioned as powerful and ethically constrained.
Anthropic surpassed OpenAI in business AI spending market share in May 2026 with 41% share, raised $65 billion at $965 billion valuation, and filed for IPO on profitable quarter. Trump administration demanded ban on non-American access to Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models over export control concerns.
Anthropic achieved multiple milestones in May-June 2026. The AI company surpassed OpenAI in business spending market share for the first time, according to Ramp data covering over 70,000 businesses. Anthropic captured 41% of AI subscription spending versus OpenAI's 39.5%. In late May, Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, exceeding OpenAI's valuation, and filed confidential IPO paperwork on the strength of its first profitable quarter. On June 13, the Trump administration sent a letter demanding Anthropic ban non-Americans, including its own employees, from accessing its advanced Mythos 5 model and the public Fable 5 model, citing export control directives. Reports indicate Fable 5's security guardrails were easily bypassed. Anthropic pulled both models from the market in response. Ramp's lead economist Ara Kharazian stated the controversy may benefit Anthropic: "Anthropic's best month on record was when the Department of Defense labeled them a supply-chain risk. There's a lot of aura that comes with your model specifically being named too dangerous to use." Anthropic had previously refused government requests to use its models for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, leading to a March supply-chain risk designation that did not reduce business adoption.