SCOOP: Trump Admin Taps Former Anthropic Researcher to Direct Federal AI Safety Organization 

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Commerce Department has tapped a new director for the government’s safety-centered artificial intelligence organization, sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Signal. 

Collin Burns, a former researcher at Anthropic and OpenAI, will lead the Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation.

Burns is the co-author of a paper titled “Aligning AI With Shared Human Values,” which argues that AI systems need to understand human moral judgments. 

Burns’ hiring is significant because he most recently worked at Anthropic, an AI company currently at odds with the Trump administration. 

Anthropic declined the Pentagon’s request for unrestricted use of its artificial technology. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared Anthropic a “supply chain risk to national security.”

However, Axios reported that the National Security Agency is using Anthropic’s powerful new model, Mythos Preview. Anthropic has only allowed Mythos access to about 40 organizations due to its potentially dangerous cyber hacking capabilities.  

The Commerce Department created the then-AI Safety Institute in November 2023 at the direction of President Joe Biden. Last June, the Trump administration renamed the agency to the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, marking the administration’s embrace of AI development. 

“For far too long, censorship and regulations have been used under the guise of national security. Innovators will no longer be limited by these standards,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at the time of the name change. “CAISI will evaluate and enhance U.S. innovation of these rapidly developing commercial AI systems while ensuring they remain secure to our national security standards.”

Burns also once held the world record for solving a Rubik’s cube in 5.25 seconds. A former co-worker of his at OpenAI described him as “one of the very best researchers I’ve ever worked with.”

“He’s super brilliant, extremely sensible, very balanced also in his sort of judgment,” the co-worker said. “I think it’ll be a real asset for recruiting technical talent in the government.”

Another former co-worker said Burns is well known for his research on measuring AI systems.

“Overall, I think he’s a great fit,” he said.