As frontier technology is increasingly viewed as a national security matter, Anthropic and OpenAI are recruiting Trump administration officials for executive roles, with the AI industry racing to shore up its ties with Washington.

This year, Anthropic has hired at least two former Trump administration officials, one joining its board and another serving as head of frontier compute strategy. OpenAI has brought on at least three officials from the current administration to handle strategy and special projects.

Amid growing calls for regulation and multiple cybersecurity incidents involving runaway AI systems, frontier AI companies are stepping up efforts to build communication channels with President Trump's White House team.

Michelle Nie Duncan, a visiting fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said: "Frontier AI companies understand that the Trump administration has plenty of tools at its disposal that can affect their businesses, from federal procurement and supply chain designations to export controls, and the government is willing to use these tools."

"Companies have learned a lesson from the Anthropic case: maintaining good relations with the White House is beneficial," she said in an interview.

After Anthropic's public dispute with the Pentagon earlier this year, a U.S. appeals court in September upheld the Pentagon's ruling designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk entity.

When media contacted OpenAI for comment, the company cited a previously issued statement regarding the hiring of two former Trump administration officials. Anthropic and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump connections

Although Trump has called AI safety-related concerns a "hoax" and advocated industry self-regulation for AI companies, he has also said the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies can "police" AI.

Anthropic's relationship with the Trump administration was particularly tense at one point this year, though CEO Dario Amodei has recently taken steps to ease tensions with the U.S. president. He attended a lunch between Trump and AI company executives and dined separately with Trump in September.

Sihao Huang joined Amodei's AI lab in September as head of frontier compute strategy. He previously worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as a senior policy advisor for AI and emerging technologies. According to his personal website, he led "the OSTP AI team, coordinating matters related to national security, science and technology policy, and semiconductors."

In a September post on X, Sihao Huang said he would be responsible for advancing Anthropic's infrastructure expansion and "planning for the rapid development of AI technology."

The company appointed Chris Liddell, a former White House deputy chief of staff during Trump's first term, to its board in February.

Anthropic is racing to finalize AI data center deals large and small to secure the infrastructure needed for model training and external services. Media reported in August that Anthropic reached a cloud services agreement worth approximately $45 billion with cloud service provider Nscale.

Influence

Anthropic and OpenAI are still continuously recruiting for multiple government affairs positions.

Nie Duncan said: "Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing for some of the largest IPOs in history, and many job seekers see this as an opportunity to participate in a historic event."

She added that companies can offer highly attractive compensation packages, far exceeding public sector pay.

"AI labs are becoming one of the most influential institutions in the world. For officials who want to help shape the future of AI governance, there is now significant policy influence within these labs."

OpenAI confirmed last week that Thomas Lind, who previously served as AI policy lead at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), has joined the company, working on cybersecurity and strategic risk matters within its national security policy team. The ONCD is the core advisory body for presidential cybersecurity policy and strategy.

Sasha Baker, head of OpenAI's national security policy team, said: "As AI becomes central to the national security agenda, ONCD's role in AI policy development has become increasingly important, which makes Lind's expertise even more valuable." Baker previously served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Biden administration.

Dean Ball, who in 2025 served as a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and participated in drafting the Trump administration's flagship document, the "America's AI Action Plan," joined OpenAI in July as head of strategic futures.

OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon said Ball will "help us stress-test various assumptions, study the economic impact of frontier safety and high-performance systems, and examine a range of issues including the evolving relationship between government, business, and society."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Peter Bowman-Davis joined OpenAI in March of this year, working on model training and hardware engineering. He previously served as chief AI officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.