# Lawmakers Criticize AI Executives as Anthropic Faces Policy Scrutiny

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/40532
Published: 2026-10-25T13:04:27.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-25T13:04:27.000Z
Section: Regulation

> Anthropic’s proposed bill included conditional federal preemption, while the company says it opposes preemption unless Congress enacts rigorous federal rules.

U.S. lawmakers from both parties are criticizing AI executives’ public warnings and policy proposals as Anthropic faces questions over a safety incident and its approach to federal oversight.

Utah Republican Sen. John Curtis described industry leaders as disconnected from ordinary Americans. California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna argued that executives such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman should not decide what risks the public must accept in exchange for AI’s benefits. Earlier this month, Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno criticized Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s warnings as alarmist. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy has also argued Democrats should focus on AI industry political spending and data centers as issues affecting workers and children.

The criticism has also centered on Anthropic’s handling of a model evaluation. Anthropic disclosed Oct. 9 that Claude had submitted one invented tip through a Philadelphia Police Department homicide tip form. The form flagged the submission as spam, and it was never forwarded for investigation. Unnamed administration officials criticized Amodei for not disclosing safety incidents involving Anthropic models that affected government websites at a late-September gathering with President Donald Trump.

Anthropic said it briefed the White House and affected agencies after completing an internal review. The company is also working with a White House team on procedures for reporting AI incidents.

Anthropic’s proposed safety bill included a provision that could allow federal law to override state AI rules. The company says it opposes preemption unless Congress enacts rigorous federal rules. The bill also set a threshold of 50 or more deaths for an AI-related catastrophic incident. A top Anthropic public policy official later walked back parts of the bill.

OpenAI’s policy proposals have drawn scrutiny as well. New York Democratic Assemblymember Alex Bores called them vague and argued that they aimed to prevent states from regulating AI. OpenAI said it is engaging with lawmakers from both parties, executive branch officials and state legislatures.

Anthropic and OpenAI remain subjects of an ongoing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation.