OpenAI And Anthropic CEOs Condemn ICE Violence, But Their Workers Want More
The CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic have spoken out against violence involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old US citizen, in Minneapolis last weekend.
Their comments come as more than 450 workers from companies including Google, Amazon, Meta, Salesforce, and OpenAI signed an open letter urging their CEOs to pressure the White House to “demand that ICE leave our cities.” The petition also calls for the immediate cancellation of all company contracts with ICE, arguing that the tech industry’s tools are helping fuel large‑scale immigration enforcement and violence.
Big Tech CEOs Condemn ICE Violence
Employee pressure has prompted cautious responses from a handful of executives. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told NBC News that his company has “no current contracts with ICE” and said he was disturbed by “some of the things we’ve seen in the last few days.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, in an internal Slack message later leaked to The New York Times, described the situation as “going too far.”
Both leaders, however, softened their criticism with praise for President Donald Trump, whose administration has backed rapid AI development. Amodei commended Trump for considering an independent investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, while Altman called the president a “strong leader” capable of uniting the country.
The Deep Ties Between Tech and Enforcement
Tech’s entanglement with federal law enforcement is not new, but worker advocates argue it has deepened during Trump’s second term. At the president’s inauguration last year, figures such as Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos appeared alongside the administration: a visible sign of alignment between Big Tech and Washington.
OpenAI and Anthropic, two of the fastest-growing AI companies benefiting from the administration’s AI-forward policies, have seen explosive growth. OpenAI is reportedly negotiating a $100 billion funding round, while Anthropic recently raised $25 billion.
At the same time, ICE has expanded its pursuit of technology partnerships. According to Wired, the agency has explored contracts involving big data platforms, facial recognition software, phone tracking tools, and advertising technologies originally designed for consumer marketing.
Growing Internal Friction
Inside tech firms, dissent is spreading. At Palantir, a longtime ICE contractor, employees debated the company’s continued cooperation following Pretti’s death, according to internal Slack messages obtained by Wired. Executives reportedly defended the contracts.
The backlash has also reached the venture capital world. Keith Rabois, a managing director at Khosla Ventures, sparked outrage after posting that “no law enforcement has shot an innocent person.” Vinod Khosla, the firm’s founder, later disavowed the remarks, writing on X that they did not reflect the company’s views.
For many tech workers, the killing in Minneapolis represents a breaking point. They argue that the same AI systems driving massive profits for their companies are being weaponized by the state, often against vulnerable communities with little oversight or accountability.
Image: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images
