Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has sparked controversy after reportedly describing employees who left the artificial intelligence company as 'a bunch of rats', amid concerns that new recruits are joining for lucrative salaries rather than the company's stated mission of developing AI safely. The comments have reignited debate over employee loyalty in Silicon Valley, where competition for experienced AI engineers has become increasingly fierce. While some founders sympathised with Amodei's frustration over losing talent to rivals, many technology workers argued that employees should not be criticised for pursuing better pay and career opportunities. According to a report, Amodei has privately expressed concern that Anthropic's rapid growth is attracting people more interested in financial rewards than long-term goals. Anthropic has become one of the world's most valuable AI companies, with reports placing its valuation at around $965 billion (£717 billion). Amodei co-founded Anthropic in 2021 after leaving OpenAI, saying he wanted to create a company that placed AI safety ahead of commercial pressures. However, some observers say Anthropic has increasingly embraced commercial ambitions, with the company reportedly preparing for a future public listing that could value the business at around $1 trillion (£743 billion). Anthropic has also faced scrutiny over recent decisions, including dropping a voluntary pledge that would have required it to halt training future AI models if adequate safety safeguards could not be guaranteed, and expanding work with the US government on defence and national security projects.