Cathie Wood Criticises Anthropic CEO Over AI Alarmism

Cathie Wood has pointed the finger at Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei for driving negative artificial intelligence coverage this year. Her own venture fund counts Anthropic among its holdings.

The Nasdaq dropped 5.52% on 5 November after Democrats won the midterm elections and investors grew concerned about restrictions on data centres. In 39 out of 45 data centre ballot measures, voters supported curbs.

Why Cathie Wood Turned on Anthropic’s CEO

During ARK Invest’s monthly video on Friday, Wood stated that Amodei’s predictions of large-scale job displacement and a 10% probability of human extinction within ten years fuelled the gloomy press.

“I can’t understand why he’s been saying it,” she said.

She also referenced Ramp data indicating that the top 1% of companies spend close to $10,000 per worker each month on AI. The median firm spends $15, a contrast she argues shows the technology remains in its early stages.

She anticipates a labour shortage rather than job losses. The US added 165,000 jobs in October against an expected 65,000, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.

The dispute also involves ARK’s own investments. ARK’s Venture Fund provides investors access to Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX, according to its website. Wood commended the “incredible success” of OpenAI and Anthropic.

That success relies on data centres. UBS calculated that construction halts could jeopardise roughly 30% of planned US data centre capacity for 2028.

What Amodei Actually Warned About

In May 2025, Amodei cautioned that AI could eliminate half of entry-level office roles and push US unemployment to between 10% and 20% within five years.

The extinction figure, however, does not come from him. Axios attributed odds above 10% to Evan Hubinger, who heads Anthropic’s AI safety team.

“We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans,” Axios reported.

Amodei’s own assessment, given to Axios in 2025, is a 25% chance that things go “really, really badly.”

Wood did acknowledge that electricity prices have risen.

She noted that US stocks have historically gained roughly 13% to 14% in the year following a midterm election, a pattern stretching back to 1958. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee has also encouraged investors to buy the AI dip.

The sell-off has already spread to Asian markets. For AI shareholders, the next key test is whether states convert their ballot votes into actual construction pauses.