Tech CEOs condemn ICE violence while praising Trump

The chief executives of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Apple have each issued statements addressing recent actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a US federal law enforcement agency, following employee pressure. On an NBC News segment, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expressed concern over recent events, referring to the violence of Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Amodei also posted on X about the horror in Minnesota, adding that democratic values must be defended at home. Meanwhile, in a leaked internal message, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote, “What’s happening with ICE is going too far.” Apple CEO Tim Cook also sent an email to staff stating he was heartbroken by the events in Minneapolis. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have stated they have no contracts with ICE.

The executive statements follow demands from tech workers, organized under ICEout.tech, who urged their employers to call the White House and demand federal agencies leave U.S. cities after Border Patrol agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. The organizers stated they were glad to hear the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic condemning the ICE murders, while calling on other industry leaders to speak out.

Despite these criticisms, all three executives paired their comments with praise for President Donald Trump, sparking internal friction. Cook noted he had a good conversation with Trump, though Apple employees were reportedly angry that Cook attended a documentary screening about Melania Trump hours after ICE shot and killed U.S. citizen Alex Pretti. Altman referred to Trump as a very strong leader in his memo, writing that pushing back against overreach is an American duty. He added that there is a big distinction between deporting violent criminals and current events. This stance marks a shift for Altman, who in 2016 published a blog post criticizing Trump, referencing the idea that the triumph of evil requires only that good men do nothing. Meanwhile, Amodei’s critique of the administration follows his comments last week criticizing Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to sell AI chips to China.

The political balancing act comes as both AI developers remain highly dependent on the administration’s AI-forward policies to sustain their growth. The scale of their current financial operations includes:

• OpenAI: Has raised at least $40 billion and is in talks to raise another $100 billion at an $830 billion valuation.
• Anthropic: Has raised $19 billion and is in talks to raise another $25 billion at a $350 billion valuation.

Why it matters

Tech CEOs are facing pressure from employees to cut ties with ICE following violent incidents in Minneapolis, while simultaneously navigating their reliance on the Trump administration’s AI-forward policies.