Saturday Night Live kicked off Season 52 last night with its version of a big interview: Partway through “Weekend Update,” the co-anchor Michael Che brought on the Anthropic CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei (played by the cast member Jane Wickline) to address the crowd. Amodei would presumably use the moment to put viewers at ease about AI, after multiple high-profile incidents raised fears about the technology escaping human control. Earlier this month, the real Amodei had published a nearly 4,000-word paper arguing that the industry needed to pace itself; here, SNL imagined, was another big opportunity to appeal to an audience, assuaging their fears of AI’s growth while standing up for his company’s product, Claude.
“Weekend Update” hardly quelled any lingering concerns. Wickline, as Amodei, was bedecked in the co-founder’s signature round spectacles and white V-neck tee tucked under a cardigan—the same outfit that he wore during a sit-down interview with CBS Sunday Morning after the paper’s release. Amodei offered a weak attempt at reassurance: “I may have been alarming in my recent interviews, but I want to assure you that if we can pressure lawmakers to create guardrails, we will be able to stop me.” When Che followed up with a question that Amodei should have been prepared for—“Can you just explain how your company isn’t going to kill us?”—the tech entrepreneur rocked back and forth for a few moments. Finally, after haltingly repeating the word so to buy time, he offered a nonresponse: “That’s a really hard question.”
Amodei may not be an obvious impression for Wickline, now in her third year on the show. During her previous two seasons, Saturday Night Live seemed unsure of how to best make use of her comedic gifts. A former TikToker known for monotone musical comedy and awkwardly staged micro-sketches, Wickline’s 2024 hiring became divisive among fans; some chafed at her dry line readings and deadpan expressions, while others adored the flecks of zany unpredictability. But Wickline’s take on Amodei deftly showcased her talents, as she nailed little details that have come to distinguish Amodei: his small smile that gives way to a smirk; nervy mannerisms, such as visibly tensed shoulders.
In a touch especially keyed to her wackier sensibilities, Wickline played Amodei as someone torn between two selves—akin to the Lord of the Rings character Sméagol, whose obsession with the titular ring causes him to lose himself in the process and leads to the emergence of an id-driven personality known as Gollum. “Come on Dario,” Wickline’s Amodei said to himself at one point, his voice lilting with doubt. “Just reassure them.” His Gollum-esque other-self then responded with a growl, “I will.”
Wickline’s Amodei continued to flail throughout the interview, even as Che began to ask seemingly simple questions about AI’s benefits. The Anthropic co-founder failed to name a single one—a telling portrait of industry giants’ struggle to excite the progressively more worried public about AI’s potential as experts continue to caution users of the possible damage these products could inflict upon society. Those experts include AI companies’ own employees, past and present: One former Anthropic researcher warned grimly that the technology might “kill us all by the end of the decade,” adding that AI founders were apparently well acquainted with these risks; a current Anthropic safety researcher chimed in to claim that there was a more than 10 percent chance that AI could “kill all humans.”
Wickline’s Amodei, asked to explain how AI is supposed to make life better, offered Che a metaphor. “It’s simple,” he said. “If you could drink a milk that made your life easier, but there was a 10 percent chance it killed you, would you drink the milk?” He seemed shocked when Che immediately said no.