Dario Amodei wants to make sure it gets both Democrats and Republicans on its side as it hires ...

Dario Amodei's Anthropic is building a dedicated political engagement operation ahead of the 2028 US presidential election, highlighting how crucial government relationships and AI policy debates have become for the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry. As reported by Fortune, Anthropic is creating a "presidential engagement" programme that will work directly with Republican and Democratic presidential candidates on AI-related issues, help shape the company's political strategy and oversee its political funding activities. The company is currently hiring a Political Programs Lead to spearhead the initiative. “Most companies hire people with Democratic and Republican backgrounds for a reason—the campaigns trust people who come from their party and understand how they work,” said the company. The role will be responsible for building and managing Anthropic's presidential engagement programme for the 2028 election cycle, educating candidates and their advisers about AI policy, preparing company executives for discussions with campaigns and planning for party conventions and presidential transitions."Decisions made over the next two years will shape the future enormously," the job description states. "We want every serious candidate and elected official, in both parties, to understand the technology and the case for governing it well."Why it mattersThe program is taking shape before the November midterms and an impending IPO that could value Anthropic at up to $2 trillion. Fortune said it underscores how central government policy, and White House support in particular, have become to the AI industry.Anthropic's relationship with the Trump administration has been rocky. In March, the Department of Defense designated the company a "supply chain risk" after a clash over how the military could use its technology. CEO Dario Amodei has called for slowing AI development to shore up safeguards and has advocated government regulation, a view President Trump rejects, citing the race with China. Last week, Amodei attended a White House event with other AI CEOs and signed an accord committing to self-regulation.Experts divided on how unusual it isLobbying by tech companies is standard, and OpenAI is hiring a U.S. Congressional Lead to advance its legislative priorities. But some experts said a formal, dedicated presidential program is different. Bruce F. Freed, president of the nonpartisan Center for Political Accountability, said companies usually deal with campaigns through government affairs staff. He had not seen such formalized engagement through a presidential election engagement committee. "My reading is this is an AI company effort aimed at shaping or staving off government regulation or oversight," he said.Katie Harbath, founder and CEO of the tech policy firm Anchor Change and a former Facebook public policy director, did not find it unusual. The role sounded like her old job, she said, and like what many companies have. What stood out to her was that it includes running PAC money, which is usually a separate function. She described it as the start of building relationships with whoever is in the White House in 2029.Harbath also said earning trust across both parties could be hard, because campaigns tend to trust people from their own side. She expects the job to be challenging and high-pressure.Calls for transparencySen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the job search is a reminder that frontier AI companies are building political operations alongside their products. Companies have a right to take part in democracy and educate policymakers, he said, but "education and influence are not the same thing." He urged Anthropic to share more about the program and said AI rules should be set by accountable elected representatives, not "by whichever company has the best-resourced political program."Anthropic's political footprintThe job description calls Anthropic "equal parts research lab, policy think tank, and technology company" and stresses that its political participation is bipartisan. The role also includes running "the day-to-day of Anthropic's political giving" and helping employees who choose to take part in politics do so "in an informed way."In April, Anthropic set up its first employee-funded PAC, AnthroPAC, which lets employees give up to $5,000 a year, the legal cap. Other tech companies have similar PACs, such as MetaPAC and AmazonPAC. Individuals can give far more outside PAC limits, and the IPO will likely deepen employees' pockets. Politico reported that Amodei gave $1 million in July to Public First, a super PAC that favors AI regulation. Other employees have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to that group and other advocacy organizations.OpenAI's different approachOpenAI has no employee-funded PACs, a policy it highlighted in a June 2026 blog post. Its leaders have instead made personal donations and sought favor with the Trump administration. CEO Sam Altman gave $1 million to Trump's 2024 inauguration fund. President Greg Brockman gave $25 million to the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future, then canceled a second planned $25 million donation after employee backlash, including employees setting up a rival super PAC for stricter AI safety laws.Sarah E. Kreps, director of Cornell University's Tech Policy Institute, said AI is already a big issue in 2026 and will become more prominent in 2028, moving from the abstract to concerns such as jobs, data centers and privacy.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.