Exclusive | AI giant Anthropic hires ex-Chuck – Business News
Anthropic has tapped an ex-staffer for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and outgoing Mayor Eric Adams for a high communications position – even because the AI giant scrambles to fend off allegations that it’s too “woke,” The Post has discovered.
The fast-growing tech startup has these days sought to fix a rapport with the Trump administration broken by its ties to Democratic megadonors, clashes with White House AI czar David Sacks and a September dustup after it reportedly barred the feds from utilizing its AI instruments for some law enforcement functions.
Maxwell Young, a longtime Democratic operative, took over as Anthropic’s head of coverage communications in November.
Maxwell Young joined Anthropic after practically three years at Pfizer. Maxwell Young / LinkedIn
One tech coverage adviser who requested anonymity stated the rent was a head-scratcher given Anthropic’s precarious place with Republicans.
“Given Anthropic’s deep, deep bench of left-leaning staff, and the company reportedly wanting to make nice with the current administration, it’s a curious move to bring on yet another Democrat right now,” the adviser stated.
Anthropic’s head of exterior communications Christopher Nulty confirmed Young’s rent and stated the company has “hired more than two dozen people from all political backgrounds since the beginning of 2025 to meet the needs of our global business” because it grows in dimension.
“Max, who led similar work at Pfizer, will help us make the case for commonsense, bipartisan AI policies like child safety protections, smart export controls, and defend America’s lead in AI,” Nulty stated in a assertion to The Post.
Young’s stint as communications director for the mayor’s workplace included a dustup in February 2022 after Politico revealed that Adams, who had beforehand claimed to be a vegan, ordered fish at numerous eating places across the metropolis.
Young adamantly informed the outlet that Adams doesn’t eat fish – just for Hizzoner to confess a couple of days later that he does. The incident was mockingly dubbed “FishGate” on social media.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with Trump administration officers on Thursday. Getty Images
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who was notably absent when tech CEOs swarmed the White House in first months of the Trump administration, has not too long ago taken a more hands-on method.
Amodei traveled to Washington on Thursday and met with key Trump administration officers and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to debate AI coverage issues, together with export restrictions and national security issues, a source close to the scenario stated.
As The Post beforehand reported, Amodei additionally attended a dinner in Japan with Trump in October and company officers have not too long ago briefed the White House on their plans for for a privately-funded AI compute and power strategy.
Anthropic declined to touch upon the Washington journey.
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Young spent years working in Schumer’s press workplace – as a press secretary from 2007 to 2012 and as his communications director from 2012 to 2014. He left Schumer’s group in 2014 however twice returned as a senior communications adviser in 2018 and 2020.
His advisory work with Schumer included serving to to craft the Senate Judiciary committee’s messaging across the contentious affirmation listening to for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, based on Politico.
From 2022 to 2023, Young labored as Mayor Adams’ director of communications, the place he oversaw a group of about 40 staff, based on his LinkedIn profile.
David Sacks has repeatedly blasted Anthropic for being “woke.” Getty Images
Young spent the previous three years outdoors of the political world on the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the place he was a vice president of coverage communications.
Meanwhile, Anthropic famous that it not too long ago fashioned an advisory council that features former Trump administration officers and stated it hires primarily based on experience moderately than political affiliation.
That hasn’t stopped criticism from Sacks, who has accused Anthropic’s management of being “AI doomers” and “committed leftists” who’ve engaged in fear-mongering about AI security in order that they’ll form laws to its liking.
Major tech corporations have often employed from the political ranks to bolster their coverage groups lately. That consists of OpenAI, which tapped former Clinton aide Chris Lehane to function its chief world affairs officer and former Biden official Liz Bourgeois as its head of coverage communications, amongst others.
Most the AI industry is pushing for a federal regulatory framework that might supersede state-level legal guidelines. President Trump is amongst those that have expressed assist for a so-called federal AI preemption.
While Anthropic has stated it additionally prefers a federal regulatory framework for AI, it has notably damaged with rivals to endorse state-level measures, together with California’s SB 53, which might require security frameworks for cutting-edge “frontier” AI fashions.
Anthropic has strongly denied any rift with the Trump administration and stated it’s aligned with the White House’s views on a quantity of AI insurance policies, together with its AI Action Plan.
