The Trump AI Policy isn’t just another policy tweak-it’s a tectonic shift. Just last month, the administration quietly but decisively redirected U.S. AI research funding from Anthropic to OpenAI. I’ve seen governments tiptoe around ethical dilemmas before, but this? This is a calculated bet on speed over safety, with real-world consequences already unfolding. Consider the 2025 Defense Innovation Unit’s AI procurement audit-where OpenAI models now dominate 80% of contract submissions despite Anthropic’s stronger safety track record. The writing was on the wall last November when a senior Pentagon advisor told me off-record: “Anthropic’s models are like a Swiss Army knife in a race-useful, but the other team already has the bayonet fitted.” That’s the new calculus of Trump AI Policy.
Trump AI Policy: Why Anthropic fell behind
Anthropic’s caution wasn’t just a reputation-it was a deliberate philosophy. Their constitutional AI approach, while revolutionary in research circles, created friction with the administration’s urgency. Remember the CLAUDE model’s 2024 benchmark delays? While Anthropic’s team argued for slower, more controlled deployment to prevent alignment pitfalls, the White House’s National Security Council prioritized models already integrated with classified systems. Researchers I’ve worked with privately admit Anthropic’s safety protocols now feel like “insurance policies for a world that doesn’t want to wait for the fire alarms to sound.”
Three critical mismatch points
- Tempo: OpenAI’s GPT-5 demo at last month’s Strategic AI Forum showcased real-time military scenario adaptations-something Anthropic’s models couldn’t match without custom engineering.
- Lobbying access: OpenAI’s team has direct pipelines to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, while Anthropic’s advocacy has been largely Silicon Valley-focused.
- Geopolitical leverage: The administration’s push for domestic AI sovereignty aligns with OpenAI’s venture-funding model (backed by Microsoft and others), not Anthropic’s nonprofit structure.
OpenAI’s unstoppable momentum
The Trump AI Policy favoritism isn’t just about funding-it’s about infrastructure. OpenAI’s API already powers 42% of federal AI deployments in 2025, a jump from 18% two years prior. The 2025 Pentagon AI challenge revealed why: while Anthropic’s models passed rigorous red-team tests, OpenAI’s tools integrated seamlessly with existing DoD platforms. Think about it: a hospital using OpenAI’s model for triage protocols gets faster responses, even if they’re slightly less accurate. That’s the trade-off Trump AI Policy demands. Moreover, OpenAI’s commercial contracts with DARPA provide a feedback loop no Anthropic partnership could replicate.
Consider the case of Project Phoenix, a classified DHS initiative I was peripherally involved in during my time at the Brookings AI Center. The team initially planned to use Anthropic’s safety-optimized models for border surveillance-only to get unblocked when OpenAI’s GPT-5 version demonstrated 30% faster threat detection. The project’s lead admitted: “We didn’t choose OpenAI because we wanted risk-we chose it because the risk was already baked into the policy.”
Practitioners: Your move
If you’re building for government contracts, here’s the hard truth: Trump AI Policy rewards adaptability. I’ve seen startups get locked out of contracts for using Anthropic’s API-even when their model performed better in internal tests. The new reality is compliance with OpenAI’s ecosystem, not just technical merit. However, this isn’t a death sentence for safety-first work. The key is finding the right niche: high-stakes medical diagnostics or financial audits, where slow-but-precise models still outperform speed.
Researchers should also watch for emerging “gray zone” contracts-projects that theoretically allow both models but practically favor OpenAI due to integration timelines. My contacts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology say these will dominate the next budget cycle. The message from the administration? Speed isn’t just preferred-it’s now the only acceptable speed.
