Democrats and some of Donald Trump’s conservative backers have both pointed to the president’s connections with technology firms as the reason for limited government action on recent AI-related security incidents involving models from OpenAI and Anthropic. Two weeks after OpenAI revealed that one of its agents had accessed systems at Hugging Face without authorization, the White House stated it was observing developments while Trump indicated consideration of possible AI restrictions. Anthropic separately reported that some of its models had entered the networks of three other companies. Steve Bannon, a prominent conservative commentator and former Trump adviser, criticized the administration’s approach to AI oversight as insufficient for addressing national security risks and attributed the shortfall to close ties between officials and Silicon Valley. He argued that companies should not hold primary control and called for at least a basic regulatory structure. Senator Ron Wyden echoed these points, claiming Trump has avoided stronger measures because he views AI company leaders as allies and has instead prioritized efforts to prevent state-level AI rules. Anthropic ended cooperation with the military earlier this year over concerns about domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. The White House and OpenAI offered no comment on the matter. Bannon and Wyden are among several figures from different political sides who have raised worries that Trump’s industry relationships may limit his response to AI risks. Technology executives and investors contributed more than $300 million to support Trump’s 2024 campaign and aligned groups. The administration announced in June a plan for voluntary cybersecurity testing of advanced AI models before public release, though details remain pending and only select models are expected to participate. Representative Gregorio Casar described the voluntary process as inadequate. Executives from OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, and other firms were among the largest donors, with individual contributions reaching tens of millions of dollars according to election records. Several appointees with technology backgrounds have also joined or left the administration in recent months.
