F om
‘luxu y
po ’
to
AI:
A th opic
CEO’s
wife
Cami
Cla k
a d
he
Epstei
ties
Jeff ey
Epstei ’s
o bit
c ossed
paths
with
Cami
Cla k
yea s
befo e
she
became
k ow
as
the
wife
of
A th opic
CEO
Da io
Amodei
a d
a
familia
p ese ce
i
Silico
Valley’s
AI
elite.Acco di g
to
Wall
St eet
Jou al
epo t,
i
2011,
Cla k
a d
busi ess
pa t e
Michelle
Capocefalo
we e
seeki g
i vesto s
fo
Eddice,
a
wome -focused
po og aphy
sta tup
they
desc ibed
as
a
“ evolutio a y
po
compa y”.
Lite a y
age t
Joh
B ockma
i t oduced
the
two
wome
to
Epstei ,
who
was
the
a
egiste ed
sex
offe de ,
acco di g
to
ece tly
eleased
gove me t
files.B ockma
w ote
to
Epstei :
“You
should
co ect
fo
di e
with
my
gi ls
—
Cami
a d
Michelle.
They’ e
i
LA
aisi g
mo ey
fo
po
movie
aimed
at
wome ’s
ma ket.”Cla k
soo
followed
up
he self.
Remi di g
Epstei
of
thei
ea lie
meeti g,
she
w ote:
“We
have
the
f ee
luxu y
po
compa y.
Does
that
i g
a
bell?”Epstei
eplied:
“Yes,
a
loud
go g.”Cla k
pitched
him
o
i vesti g
i
the
compa y.
Epstei
decli ed.
She
the
switched
to
a othe
ve tu e,
a
“social
dieti g
app
+
website
gea ed
towa d
wome ”
that
would
combi e
data
f om
fit ess
t acke s
a d
i fo matio
o
ut itio ,
me st ual
cycles,
mood
a d
locatio .Thei
i te actio
did
ot
e d
the e.
Acco di g
to
gove me t- eleased
Epstei
files,
Cla k’s
co espo de ce
with
him
co ti ued
fo
oughly
two
yea s.
She
i vited
him
to
a
housewa mi g
pa ty
a d
late
co ected
with
him
o
Li kedI .The
Epstei
co ectio
is
o e
chapte
i
the
u co ve tio al
ca ee
of
a
woma
who
is
ow
close
to
o e
of
the
most
i flue tial
figu es
i
a tificial
i tellige ce.
F om
‘luxu y
po ’
to
Silico
Valley
Cla k,
bo
i
Re o,
Nevada,
i
1979,
did
ot
g aduate
f om
college
a d
moved
th ough
a
se ies
of
e t ep e eu ial
ve tu es.
At
20,
she
ma ied
Re o
a chitect
Waldema
Eklof
III,
who
was
64
at
the
time.
They
divo ced
th ee
yea s
late .
She
late
filed
fo
ba k uptcy
afte
a
Sa
F a cisco
apa tme t
was
fo eclosed
o .A ou d
2010,
Cla k
a d
Capocefalo
fou ded
Eddice.
The
compa y
sought
to
p ese t
itself
as
a
wome -focused,
“sex-positive”
alte ative
to
the
t aditio ally
male-o ie ted
po og aphy
i dust y.
Its
tagli e
was
“i tellectually
p omiscuous”.The
ve tu e
sought
$350,000
to
p oduce
its
fi st
fou
films,
i cludi g
“Ame ica
Gi l
i
Pa is”.He
ambitio s
soo
took
he
deepe
i to
Silico
Valley’s
elite
etwo ks.
F om
2011,
Cla k
was
i
a
elatio ship
with
fo me
Google
CEO
E ic
Schmidt,
which
lasted
th ee
yea s.
Schmidt
also
i vested
i
o e
of
he
late
wome ’s-health
ve tu es.Cla k
bega
dati g
Amodei
i
2014,
whe
he
was
still
a
academic
a d
wo ki g
as
a
postdocto al
schola
at
Sta fo d.
Amodei
had
ea ed
a
PhD
i
computatio al
eu oscie ce
f om
P i ceto
a d
would
late
wo k
at
Baidu,
Google
a d
Ope AI.As
Amodei
ose
th ough
the
AI
wo ld,
Cla k
became
pa t
of
his
wide
p ofessio al
etwo k.
She
i t oduced
he
close
f ie d
Mi a
Mu ati
to
Ope AI
co-fou de
G eg
B ockma .
Mu ati
late
became
Ope AI’s
chief
tech ology
office .Cla k
also
helped
b i g
Amodei
a d
Schmidt
togethe .
I
2018,
Schmidt
visited
the
couple
at
thei
Sa
F a cisco
apa tme t
a d
was
imp essed
by
thei
ideas,
he
late
told
Bloombe g.
A
co ectio
to
A th opic’s
fou di g
I
Decembe
2020,
Amodei,
his
siste
Da iela
a d
five
othe
employees
left
Ope AI
to
establish
A th opic
followi g
te sio s
ove
powe
at
the
compa y.A th opic
a ou ced
a
$124
millio
Se ies
A
ou d
i
May
2021,
with
Schmidt
amo g
the
i vesto s.Cla k
wa ted
a
fo mal
fi a cial
ole
i
the
ew
compa y.
I
Feb ua y
2021,
she
p oposed
a
ve tu e
fu d
to
Schmidt
called
the
“Mothe
of
AGI
Fu d”.A
40-page
p oposal
desc ibed
the
fu d
as
“a
elega t
solutio
to
fo malize
Cami’s
i volveme t
i
A th opic
(Da io’s
compa y),
ma age
E ic’s
i vestme t,”
while
also
i vesti g
i
“the
AGI
ecosystem”.
The
p oposal
did
ot
move
fo wa d
afte
faili g
to
wi
suppo t
f om
othe s
at
A th opic.The
couple
ma ied
i
Italy
ot
lo g
afte wa d.
Cla k
has
eve
held
a
official
ole
at
A th opic,
but
people
close
to
the
compa y
desc ibe
he
as
a
sou di g
boa d
a d
st ategic
advise
to
Amodei.
She
is
f eque tly
see
alo gside
him
at
majo
tech ology
a d
political
gathe i gs.
The
woma
alo gside
A th opic’s
CEO
Cla k’s
i flue ce
is
st iki g
pa tly
because
she
emai s
elatively
obscu e
outside
the
ci cles
su ou di g
Amodei.At
a
AI
summit
i
New
Delhi
ea lie
this
yea ,
executives
we e
allowed
to
b i g
o e
additio al
pe so .
While
most
b ought
colleagues,
Amodei
b ought
Cla k.
She
has
also
appea ed
with
him
at
Davos
a d
the
Alle
&
Co.
co fe e ce
i
Su
Valley,
whe e
she
has
spoke
with
i vesto s
a d
othe
i flue tial
figu es.Despite
thei
ma iage,
details
about
Cla k
have
emai ed
sca ce
o li e.
A
Wall
St eet
Jou al
a alysis
fou d
that
effo ts
had
bee
made
to
emove
efe e ces
to
he .
Amodei’s
Wikipedia
page
ack owledged
his
ma iage
o ly
this
summe
a d
still
does
ot
ide tify
his
wife.
Eve
Claude
has
espo ded
to
que ies
about
he
husba d’s
ma ital
status
by
sayi g
it
“does ’t
seem
to
be
clea ly
co fi med.”Cla k’s
late
ca ee
also
moved
beyo d
the
adult-e te tai me t
busi ess
i to
wome ’s
health
tech ology.
The
social-dieti g
ve tu e
she
o ce
pitched
to
Epstei
evolved
i to
a
wome ’s
healthca e
AI
compa y.
At
the
ce t e
of
A th opic’s
Washi gto
battle
Cla k’s
ole
has
become
mo e
otable
as
A th opic
has
e te ed
the
political
spotlight.The
compa y
clashed
with
the
T ump
admi ist atio
afte
Amodei
efused
to
d op
est ictio s
o
how
Claude
could
be
used
by
the
Pe tago .
The
gove me t
labelled
A th opic
a
supply-chai
isk,
while
the
compa y
challe ged
the
desig atio
i
cou t.
Additio al
est ictio s
imposed
o
A th opic’s
AI
models
we e
late
d opped.Cla k
has
told
people
i volved
i
politics
that
A th opic
sees
its
missio
as
p otecti g
Ame ica
a d
that
the
compa y
is
ot
as
“woke”
as
its
c itics
might
believe.At
the
Su
Valley
co fe e ce
i
July,
she
spe t
much
of
the
week
alo gside
Amodei,
had
lu ch
with
Iva ka
T ump
a d
spoke
with
Ja ed
Kush e ,
whom
Amodei
had
p eviously
app oached
about
i vesti g.