Exclusive: Anthropic taps former nuke chiefs, lawmakers for advisory council

Zoom in: The bipartisan National Security and Public Sector Advisory Council comprises 11 inaugural members, including:

• Lisa Gordon-Hagerty and Jill Hruby, former National Nuclear Security Administration bosses
• Dave Luber, former NSA cybersecurity director and Cyber Command executive director
• Patrick Shanahan, former deputy defense secretary
• David Cohen, former CIA deputy director
• Former Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who handled defense appropriations, and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who was a member of the intelligence committee

What they're saying: The council will "help ensure the U.S. and allied democracies maintain decisive advantages in AI development at a critical moment, when the next two to three years will determine whether democratic or authoritarian models of AI governance shape the global order for decades," a person familiar with the operation told Axios.

• Relationships with Five Eyes and Indo-Pacific countries are of particular import.

Zoom out: Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI each won Defense Department contracts worth as much as $200 million this summer.

• "The adoption of AI is transforming the department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty said at the time.

Go deeper: Anthropic, DOE team up to spot dangerous nuclear chats