Inside the White House's AI power center

Like its AI policy, the Trump administration's AI team is taking shape on the fly. Here's who's running the show—for now:

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: His signature was on the letter that sparked the latest confrontation between Anthropic and the administration, ultimately leading to the takedown of the company's Fable and Mythos models.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: He does not directly oversee AI testing. Yet he was the point of contact when Amazon raised concerns about Anthropic safety issues and was among the few Cabinet members flanking the president during a G7 press conference.

• White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles: Wiles, a veteran political strategist, has not typically been involved in day-to-day AI policy. But she was receptive to Secretary Bessent's concerns about how Anthropic's Mythos could impact the financial sector, helping to reopen lines of communication with the company.

• National Economic Council's Ryan Baasch is said to be the person carrying the torch inside the White House for Silicon Valley figures David Sacks and Sriram Krishnan, who have served as key architects of the administration's AI agenda until recently.