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Anthropic’s reported hires include former Trump administration officials; the available reporting does not establish a matching slate of Trump-administration hires at OpenAI. Instead, OpenAI’s Washington profile centers on policy chief Chris Lehane, company lobbying and president Greg Brockman’s political donations. Both companies have spent heavily on lobbying as federal officials scrutinize access to advanced AI models—but hiring and spending alone do not prove influence or public trust.
What the firms’ Washington personnel show
The headline claim needs qualification: the available reporting supports describing Anthropic as hiring former Trump administration officials, but it does not establish that OpenAI did the same. Fortune’s account presents different personnel and political relationships for the two companies.
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Anthropic hired former officials and added an outside adviser
Fortune reported that Anthropic added Chris Liddell, a former White House deputy chief of staff under Trump, and Mary Croghan, a former Office of Cabinet Affairs official. It also reported that former Missouri senator Roy Blunt joined Anthropic’s national security advisory board. Blunt’s advisory-board role is distinct from employment as a former administration official.
The same Fortune account said Anthropic also hired several outgoing Biden administration AI policy officials. Its Washington expansion therefore spans personnel with different government backgrounds, rather than being limited to former Trump officials.
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OpenAI’s reported connections are different
Fortune described OpenAI policy chief Chris Lehane as having worked on Democratic campaigns and later for technology and cryptocurrency interests. It also reported that OpenAI president Greg Brockman was a major donor to MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC. Lehane’s career and Brockman’s donation are not company hires, and a donation by an executive should not be presented as a company appointment.
How much the companies have spent lobbying
Federal lobbying disclosures, as reported by Axios, show substantial activity by both companies. The figures cover different reporting periods, so they should not be treated as like-for-like annual totals.
| Company | Reported lobbying spend | Period and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $1.6 million | Q1 2026; Axios described it as a then-record quarter. |
| OpenAI | $1 million | Q1 2026; Axios described it as a then-record quarter. |
| Anthropic | More than $3.5 million | First half of 2026, according to Axios. |
| OpenAI | $1.2 million | Q2 2026, according to Axios. |
| Anthropic | $3.1 million | All of 2025, according to Axios. |
These disclosures indicate that lobbying is a significant part of each company’s effort to engage with policymakers. They do not show what specific government decisions resulted from that spending. Nor does Anthropic’s first-half 2026 figure make a direct annual comparison with its full-year 2025 total or with OpenAI’s second-quarter figure.
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Why federal model access became a flashpoint
A June 2026 Associated Press report carried by The Washington Post described federal scrutiny of advanced model releases and negotiations between the companies and officials. It reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had spoken with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about a model release. The report said OpenAI limited access to a new model to customers approved by the Trump administration, while Anthropic announced a limited release of its cybersecurity model after federal restrictions were eased.
OpenAI objected to making government review the standard route for access, saying: “We don’t believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default.” Rep. Lori Trahan criticized decisions made company by company, saying “the Trump administration is deciding company by company who gets access to the newest AI model. No law. No process. No oversight. Just appointees in Washington deciding who’s in and who’s out.”
Those statements capture a dispute over how access decisions should be made: through individual negotiations or through a durable framework with defined rules and oversight. The AP report reflects the situation it described in June; it does not establish that the same access arrangements or policy positions remain in effect in October 2026.
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What these ties do—and do not—tell us about trust
Hiring former officials can give a company experience with government processes and policy debates. Lobbying can put its views before policymakers. Donations by individual executives may reveal political activity by those people. None of those facts, on its own, demonstrates that a company has earned public trust, gained privileged influence, or secured a favorable government decision.
The reporting establishes different approaches and relationships, not a measurable outcome. Anthropic’s reported former Trump officials are hires, Blunt is an adviser, and its other reported recruits include Biden-era policy officials. OpenAI’s cited connections include a policy executive with a different career background, a president’s political donation, and disclosed lobbying. Keeping those categories separate is essential to understanding what the headline’s shorthand leaves out.
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