The Gilded Age was the epitome of the immense concentration of corporate power. During that time, industrial giants like Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed so much power that they could, quite literally, control time itself. On Nov. 18, 1883, it became known as “The Day of Two Noons” after railroad companies in the U.S. and Canada established four distinct time zones across North America to replace the chaotic time zones on the continent, causing many clocks to strike noon twice.
Today, a new form of concentration is emerging in the AI era, and even some of its creators—including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei—say they are deeply uneasy about how rapidly and accidentally that power has concentrated.
In an interview on the WTF is podcast with host and Indian investor Nikhil Kamath, Amodei stated that part of the reason some AI companies have accumulated so much power is due to pure chance.
“There is a certain randomness to how a few individuals end up leading these companies that grow so quickly and seem likely, in the near future, to power a large part of the economy,” Amodei said.
He continued, expressing his concern about that power. “I have said openly, publicly, not for the first time, that I am at least somewhat uncomfortable with the degree of power concentration that is occurring here,” he said. “I would say it has happened almost overnight, almost by accident.”
Amodei has long been vocal about his concerns regarding the concentration of power during rapid AI development. The CEO published a 20,000 – word essay titled “” in January warning about the perils of a system that amasses “personal wealth well into the trillions” for a powerful few and gives them excessive political influence. In the essay, Amodei said he and Anthropic’s six cofounders 80% of their wealth due to fears of the repercussions wealth concentration could have on society.
Today, a small number of AI labs in the U.S. and China dominate AI development, to such an extent that announcements about model advancements have sent tremors through the stock market. Earlier this month, Anthropic released Claude Cowork, which includes specific plugins for industries like sales and finance. That release triggered a reaction as investors speculated the new technology could make software – as – a – service obsolete.
Record – breaking AI investments are accumulating wealth for the rich, adding an estimated $550 billion to the net worth of U.S. tech billionaires in 2025, as reported by. shareholders last year gave CEO Elon Musk a staggering $1 trillion pay package, putting him on track to become the first trillionaire ever.
An AI tsunami on the horizon
Amodei says he believes AI advancement is about to surge, comparing its growing influence to an approaching wave.
“It’s as if this tsunami is coming towards us,” Amodei said. “It’s so close that we can see it on the horizon.”
Anthropic is part of the seismic changes that have created that massive wave. Aside from plugins for sales and finance, the company on Tuesday launched a few other enterprise offerings, designed for human resources and investment banking.
Still, Amodei warns that many people remain unaware of the reality of AI’s revolutionary capabilities.
“People are coming up with these explanations: ‘It’s not actually a tsunami, that’s just an optical illusion,’” he said.
What might seem unusual for a CEO of one of the tech companies materially benefiting from rapid AI advancement, Amodei said he is motivated by a sense of responsibility rather than profit.
“Warning about risks is not in our commercial interest,” he said. “Saying that the models we build could be dangerous, regardless of what people might say, is not an effective marketing strategy and that’s not why we do it.”