Scoop: Anthropic meets with House Homeland Security behind closed doors

A bipartisan House Homeland Security Committee briefing with Anthropic's Jack Clark was held behind closed doors on Wednesday, per sources familiar with the meeting, and only briefly touched on the company's fight with the Pentagon. Why it matters: Anthropic — which is suing the federal government over its designation as a supply chain risk — is engaging with lawmakers on national security and AI, even as much of that discussion is happening out of the public eye.

Inside the room: Clark met with committee lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in a closed-door session, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.

The discussion focused largely on issues like model distillation — shrinking powerful AI systems into smaller versions — and export controls. The Pentagon dispute was not a central focus of the conversation, per two sources. The tone of the meeting was "friendly," according to multiple sources.

Behind the scenes: The committee held a hearing in December on the future of AI and cybersecurity with executives from Anthropic, Google, Quantum Xchange and Seven Hill Ventures that was originally going to feature CEO-level witnesses.

The companies moved to have lower-level executives testify instead, with plans made to hold largely closed-door roundtables with leaders at a later date, sources familiar said. Committee spokesperson Anna Holland said the roundtables were moved to a closed-door format "to allow for more substantive discussions." Clark, a co-founder of Anthropic, recently stepped into a new role as head of public benefit as Anthropic plans to expand its D.C. presence.

The intrigue: One source said that there had been some expectation that these industry roundtables could include brief public-facing components.

Another source said the session was always planned to be private to discuss sensitive issues.

What's next: The roundtable this week with Anthropic is part of a series with industry stakeholders the committee is convening over the coming months, Holland said.

"These discussions are focusing on strengthening our critical infrastructure and cybersecurity posture, as well as how DHS evaluates, acquires, and integrates emerging technologies like AI, which are topics the Committee has explored in previous hearings."