philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Inside Anthropic’s state-by-state plan to ratchet up AI rules

Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic is pursuing a strategy of one-upmanship that encourages states to impose increasingly tougher AI guardrails, rather than align around a single set of regulations.

The approach stands in stark contrast to the one favored by the company’s archrival, OpenAI, which has pushed state lawmakers toward common ground on regulating the breakthrough technology. ...

“We’re looking for legislation that meaningfully raises the bar on safety for the most capable AI systems.”

Fernandez’s comments came in response to questions from POLITICO about OpenAI’s ongoing campaign to shape states’ AI regulations. The ChatGPT maker’s top lobbyist, Chris Lehane, has coined the term “reverse federalism” to describe its attempts to bypass a paralyzed Congress and build a national AI framework by mirroring bills state-by-state. ...

The veiled jab at OpenAI is on-brand for Anthropic, whose executives left OpenAI in 2020 over concerns the company wasn’t prioritizing safety. Anthropic has consistently pushed for stronger AI safety rules at both the federal and state level — an effort that some critics, particularly those close to the Trump administration and in venture capital, frame as an attempt to hamstring regulators and lock out competitors. ...

See the full story here: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/15/inside-anthropics-state-by-state-plan-to-ratchet-up-ai-rules-00998415