Anthropic has tapped an ex-staffer for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and outgoing Mayor Eric Adams for a top communications role – even as the AI giant scrambles to fend off allegations that it is too “woke,” The Post has learned.
The fast-growing tech startup has lately sought to mend a rapport with the Trump administration damaged 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 using its AI tools for some law enforcement purposes.
Maxwell Young, a longtime Democratic operative, took over as Anthropic’s head of policy communications in November.
One tech policy adviser who requested anonymity said the hire was a head-scratcher given Anthropic’s precarious position 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 said.
Anthropic’s head of external communications Christopher Nulty confirmed Young’s hire and said 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” as it grows in size.
“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 said in a statement to The Post.
Young’s stint as communications director for the mayor’s office included a dustup in February 2022 after Politico revealed that Adams, who had previously claimed to be a vegan, ordered fish at various restaurants around the city.
Young adamantly told the outlet that Adams doesn’t eat fish – only for Hizzoner to admit a couple of days later that he does. The incident was mockingly dubbed “FishGate” on social media.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who was notably absent when tech CEOs swarmed the White House in first months of the Trump administration, has recently taken a more hands-on approach.
Amodei traveled to Washington on Thursday and met with key Trump administration officials and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss AI policy matters, including export restrictions and national security concerns, a source close to the situation said.
As The Post previously reported, Amodei also attended a dinner in Japan with Trump in October and company officials have recently briefed the White House on their plans for for a privately-funded AI compute and energy strategy.
Anthropic declined to comment on the Washington trip.
Young spent years working in Schumer’s press office – as a press secretary from 2007 to 2012 and as his communications director from 2012 to 2014. He left Schumer’s team in 2014 but twice returned as a senior communications adviser in 2018 and 2020.
His advisory work with Schumer included helping to craft the Senate Judiciary committee’s messaging around the contentious confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, according to Politico.
From 2022 to 2023, Young worked as Mayor Adams’ director of communications, where he oversaw a team of about 40 employees, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Young spent the past three years outside of the political world at the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, where he was a vice president of policy communications.
Meanwhile, Anthropic noted that it recently formed an advisory council that includes former Trump administration officials and said it hires based on expertise rather than political affiliation.
That hasn’t stopped criticism from Sacks, who has accused Anthropic’s leadership of being “AI doomers” and “committed leftists” who have engaged in fear-mongering about AI safety so that they can shape regulations to its liking.
Major tech companies have frequently hired from the political ranks to bolster their policy teams in recent years. That includes OpenAI, which tapped former Clinton aide Chris Lehane to serve as its chief global affairs officer and former Biden official Liz Bourgeois as its head of policy communications, among others.
Most the AI industry is pushing for a federal regulatory framework that would supersede state-level laws. President Trump is among those who have expressed support for a so-called federal AI preemption.
While Anthropic has said it also prefers a federal regulatory framework for AI, it has notably broken with rivals to endorse state-level measures, including California’s SB 53, which would require safety frameworks for cutting-edge “frontier” AI models.
Anthropic has strongly denied any rift with the Trump administration and said it is aligned with the White House’s views on a number of AI policies, including its AI Action Plan.
