Honest question: why have an elaborate theory with no evidence when the simple facts support a much simpler conclusion?
Anthropic is free to do what they want. I can’t imagine the board meeting where this triple bank shot of goading the government into threatening the company to do what they want.
I don't think it's that elaborate. I didn't mean to suggest they intentionally goaded the government into this confrontation. I figure it's a simpler "Oh look, we now have a good opportunity to make that announcement that we were worried about." Considering it's probably the same high-level decision makers on both choices it doesn't need a board meeting. And yes they're absolutely free to do what they want, but they're also not blind to how the public will view their decisions.
Anthropic is free to do what they want. I can’t imagine the board meeting where this triple bank shot of goading the government into threatening the company to do what they want.