Liberal Foundation Called Out By JD Vance Has Stake In AI Company Sparring With White House

WASHINGTON—An AI company that this week drew the ire of President Donald Trump’s administration by restricting how it’s able to use its tools is partially owned by the leftist Ford Foundation — the same organization slammed by Vice President JD Vance this week for sowing political division.

Senior administration officials who spoke with Semafor slammed tech giant Anthropic for its refusal to allow its AI model to be used for certain law enforcement tasks, saying the restriction has “deepened hostility” from the administration to the AI company. Anthropic had declined requests from contractors who are working with federal law enforcement agencies, and Trump officials believe it goes beyond terms of service concerns, officials told Semafor.

The officials accused Anthropic of selectively enforcing vague policies due to political considerations, Semafor reported, making moral judgments about how law enforcement agencies conduct their business.

Those concerns may be bolstered by an ownership stake in the company by left-wing networks, including the Ford Foundation, which the White House just rebuked.

The Ford Foundation purchased shares of Anthropic in 2024 in collaboration with Omidyar Network, a network headed by Pierre and Pam Omidyar, longtime Democratic donors who, in 2020, poured $45 million into the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a well-known dark money organization that funnels millions to pet Democrat projects and causes.

In the announcement of the purchase, Omidyar’s network said the purchase was being made for “social good.”

“We are investing in generative AI that protects and promotes the public interest and prioritizes the long-term benefit of humanity. That’s why we recently acquired shares in Anthropic, a leading generative AI company.”

On Monday, Vice President Vance promised to “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence” — groups that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller explained are nonprofits and organizations funding violent protests and riots. He then specifically mentioned the Ford Foundation.

“Did you know that the George Soros Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the groups that funded that disgusting article justifying Charlie’s death, did you know they benefit from generous tax treatment? They are literally subsidized by you and me, the American taxpayer, and how do they reward us? By setting fire to the house built by the American family over 250 years.”

Vance was referring to an article from The Nation that misquoted Charlie Kirk, incorrectly suggesting that Kirk had made a racist comment. The Nation’s Elizabeth Spears headlined that piece: “Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning,” and her sub-headline read: “The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn’t a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division.”

Following Vance’s remarks, The Nation claimed it had never been supported by Soros or Open Society and is not currently funded by the Ford Foundation. A Vance spokesman pointed the media to grant records showing that the Ford Foundation had given The Nation $100,000 in 2019 for its internship program, and the Open Society Foundation had donated to a nonprofit that was previously associated with the publication, POLITICO reported.

A spokesman for Anthropic said the Ford Foundation doesn’t have any influence on decisions.

“The Ford Foundation represents a tiny fraction of our investor base,” the company spokesman said. “And they do not dictate our positions or activities.”

Anthropic, however, is filled with anti-Trump voices. One of its newest board members, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, is one of the most prominent Democratic donors in the country, donating millions of dollars to both Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Daniela Amodei, Anthropic’s co-founder and president, has also donated the maximum amount to Harris and once said, “Trump represents a serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law.” Amodei also said “odds of things going well will be substantially improved” if Trump were not elected in 2024.

And records investigated by journalist Gabe Kaminsky in November 2024 showed that Omidyar (who founded eBay in 1995) was behind the Governors Safeguarding Democracy initiative — the second Trump resistance to  “protect the rule of law” around the country. Omidyar has also said that “Trump represents a serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law.”

Anthropic has, however, managed to do business with this administration.

The Defense Department had awarded Anthropic a “two-year prototype other transaction agreement with a $200 million ceiling” earlier this year, and as part of that agreement, Anthropic is supposed to “prototype frontier AI capabilities that advance U.S. national security,” Anthropic announced in July.

And in August, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced a “groundbreaking” agreement with Anthropic to bring “Claude for Enterprise” and “Claude for Government” (advanced AI large language models) to all three branches of the U.S. government for only $1 in support of the White House’s AI plan. Its leadership has also appeared at numerous administration events, including one alongside Amodei and Trump for an energy event.