A White House official, who requested anonymity to discuss the planned meeting Friday, said the administration is engaging with advanced AI labs about their models and the security of software. The official stressed that any new technology that might be used by the federal government would require a technical period for evaluation.

The meeting comes after tensions have run hot between the Trump administration and the safety-conscious Anthropic, which has sought to put guardrails on the development of AI to minimize any potential risks and maximize its economic and national security benefits for the U.S.

President Donald Trump tried to stop all federal agencies from using Anthropic’s chatbot Claude over the company’s contract dispute with the Pentagon, with Trump saying in a February social media post that the administration “will not do business with them again!”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also sought to declare Anthropic a supply chain risk, an unprecedented move against a U.S. company that Anthropic has challenged in two federal courts. The company said it wanted assurance the Pentagon would not use its technology in fully autonomous weapons and the surveillance of Americans. Hegseth said the company must allow for any uses the Pentagon deemed lawful.

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued a ruling in March that blocked the enforcement of Trump’s social media directive ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products.

Anthropic declined to speak about the meeting in advance.

The San Francisco-based Anthropic has said the new Mythos model it announced on April 7 is so “strikingly capable” that it is limiting its use to select customers because of its ability to surpass human cybersecurity experts in finding and exploiting computer vulnerabilities.

And while some industry experts have questioned whether Anthropic’s claims of too-powerful AI technology were a marketing ploy, even some of the company’s sharpest critics have suggested that Mythos might represent a further advancement in AI.

One influential Anthropic critic, David Sacks, who was the White House’s AI and crypto czar, said people should “take this seriously.”

“Anytime Anthropic is scaring people, you have to ask, ‘Is this a tactic? Is this part of their Chicken Little routine? Or is it real?’” Sacks said on the “All-In” podcast he co-hosts with other tech investors. “With cyber, I actually would give them credit in this case and say this is more on the real side.”

Sacks said, “It just makes sense that as the coding models become more and more capable, they are more capable at finding bugs. That means they’re more capable at finding vulnerabilities. That means they’re more capable at stringing together multiple vulnerabilities and creating an exploit.”

The model’s potential benefits, as well as its risks, have also attracted attention outside the U.S.

The United Kingdom’s AI Security Institute said it evaluated the new model and found it a “step up” over previous models, which were already rapidly improving.

“Mythos Preview can exploit systems with weak security posture, and it is likely that more models with these capabilities will be developed,” the institute said in a report.

Anthropic has also been in talks with the European Union about its AI models, including advanced models that haven’t yet been released in Europe, European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said Friday.

Axios first reported the scheduled meeting between Wiles and Amodei.

When it announced Mythos, Anthropic said it was also forming an initiative called Project Glasswing, bringing together tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, along with other companies like JPMorgan Chase, in hopes of securing the world’s critical software from “severe” fallout that the new model could pose to public safety, national security and the economy.

“We’re releasing it to a subset of some of the world’s most important companies and organizations so they can use this to find vulnerabilities,” said the Anthropic co-founder and policy chief, Jack Clark, at this week’s Semafor World Economy conference.

Clark added that Mythos, while ahead of the curve, is not a “special model.”

“There will be other systems just like this in a few months from other companies, and in a year to a year-and-a-half later, there will be open-weight models from China that have these capabilities,” he said. So the world is going to have to get ready for more powerful systems that are going to exist within it.”

___

O’Brien reported from Providence, R.I. AP business reporter Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.

Wiles told the magazine in a wide-ranging, revealing series of conversations that she underestimated the scandal involving Epstein, the disgraced financier, but sharply criticized how Bondi managed the case and the public’s expectations.

After the story was published, Wiles disparaged it as a “disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.”

“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,” she wrote in a social media post. “I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”

Wiles did not deny the comments that were attributed to her.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s understated but influential chief of staff, criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and broadly defended the president’s aggressive second administration in a series of interviews published Tuesday in Vanity Fair.

Wiles told the magazine in a wide-ranging, revealing series of conversations that she underestimated the scandal involving Epstein, the disgraced financier, but sharply criticized how Bondi managed the case and the public’s expectations.

She also said Trump wants to keep bombing alleged drug boats in the waters off the coast of Venezuela until that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, “cries uncle.”

And Wiles at one point said she and Trump had a “loose agreement” that his retribution campaign would end before the first 90 days of his second term — but it continues well beyond the three-month mark.

Trump tapped Wiles after she managed his winning 2024 campaign. She is the first woman to ever serve as White House chief of staff and is known for shunning the spotlight. It is rare for her to speak as extensively and openly as she did about the president to the magazine, which published its lengthy interview with her — and other members of the White House staff and the Cabinet. Wiles has been speaking to Vanity Fair since just before Trump took office last January.

Asked about Epstein, Wiles said hadn’t really paid attention to “whether all these rich, important men went to that nasty island and did unforgivable things to young girls.”

She said she has read the Epstein file and that Trump is “not in the file doing anything awful.” He and Epstein were friends before they had a falling out.

The Justice Department is facing a Friday deadline to release everything it has on Epstein after Trump, after objecting to the release, signed legislation requiring that the papers be made public.

Wiles criticized Bondi’s handling of the case, going back to earlier in the year when she distributed binders to a group of social media influencers that included no new information about Epstein. That led to even more calls from Trump’s base for the files to be released.

“I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this,” Wiles said of Bondi. “First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.”

Wiles, over the series of interviews, described the president behind the scenes very much as he presents himself in public: an intense figure who thinks in broad strokes yet is often not concerned with the details of process and policy. She added, though, that he has not been as angry or temperamental as is often suggested, even as she affirmed his ruthlessness and determination to achieve retribution against those he considers his political enemies.

Trump, she said, has “an alcoholic’s personality,” even though the president does not drink. But the personality trait is something she recognizes from her father, the famous sports broadcaster Pat Summerall.

“High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities,” she said, adding that Trump has “a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”

On Venezuela, Wiles said Trump wants to keep the pressure on Maduro.

“He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.” Her comment, though, seemed to contradict the administration’s position that the strikes are about stopping drugs and saving American lives, not regime change.

She said the administration is “very sure we know who we’re blowing up.”

The continued strikes and mounting death toll have drawn scrutiny from Congress, which has pushed back and opened investigations.

Wiles described much of her job as channeling Trump’s energy, whims and desired policy outcomes — including managing his desire for vengeance against his political opponents, anyone he blames for his 2020 electoral defeat and those who pursued criminal cases against him after his first term.

“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” Wiles said early in his administration, telling Vanity Fair that she does try to tamp down Trump’s penchant for retribution.

Later in 2025, she pushed back. “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour,” she said, arguing he was operating on a different principle: ”‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.’ And so people that have done bad things need to get out of the government. In some cases, it may look like retribution. And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.”

Asked about the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, Wiles allowed: “Well, that might be the one retribution.”

—-

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

But now, workers are so frustrated with toxic workplaces they’re ditching jobs without any warning or resignation letter—or rather, “revenge quitting.” 

Unfortunately, it’s not just young new hires who are leaving their employers high and dry without any formal notice or so much as a heads up that they won’t be at their desks the next day: According to the job board, Monster’s revenge quitting report, nearly half of U.S. workers say they’ve done it. 

The majority were in their post for over 2 years before deciding to silently walk out of their job. 

“Sudden resignations aren’t just individual exits, they’re warning signals flashing across workplace culture,” says Monster’s career expert Vicki Salemi. “When workers walk out without notice, it’s often because they’ve lost trust in leadership or feel their voices aren’t heard.”

Why employees revenge quit: Toxic workplaces and management

Perhaps surprisingly, it’s not about money. Monster’s survey shows the main triggers for revenge quitting are toxic workplaces, poor management, and feeling undervalued. Low pay or the lack of benefits actually accounts for only 4% of silent exits. 

Lack of career growth opportunities ranks even lower, proving that culture and management drives loyalty—or its collapse.

And of course, it has a ripple effect on those left behind. Nearly 60% of workers have seen a colleague walk out without notice, and the impact on teams is immediate. Projects stall, remaining employees scramble to fill the gaps, and overall morale takes a hit. Up to a third of workers have seen four or more peers abruptly quit without a word.

Worse yet, it may even inspire your next revenge quitter. Despite seeing the disruption it causes, around 90% of workers report that revenge quitting is justified in a poor work environment, meanwhile, half say it’s a valid form of protest.

How to reduce revenge quitting at your firm

The antidote isn’t just raises or perks—it’s proactive leadership. Employees told Monster that a healthier workplace culture (63%), recognition for their contributions (47%), and even a new boss (46%) could have kept them from walking out abruptly.

Clear career paths matter too. Workers want to feel their time and effort are investments in growth, not just a way to keep the office running. Without visible opportunities for advancement, paired with not feeling listened to, frustration builds—and loyalty erodes.

The researchers suggest that employers who want to reduce turnover should focus on four things:

• Creating safe, respectful work environments
• Training managers to lead with empathy and clarity
• Recognizing and rewarding contributions
• Offering competitive pay and clear career paths

“In today’s competitive job market, addressing these issues proactively could mean the difference between losing talent suddenly—or building a loyal, long-term workforce,” the report concludes.

Parliamentary staff are preparing to stage a trade union action during the upcoming budget session, according to parliamentary sources.

It is stated that the staff are planning this action in protest against the committee report on the administrative restructuring of Parliament.

The committee report on the restructuring of the administrative framework of Parliament has already been forwarded to the heads of parliamentary departments for further review.

Parliamentary sources note that staff strongly oppose the report.

Parliament consists of nine departments, with approximately 850 employees serving across them.

Accordingly, the staff have reportedly reached a consensus to carry out unofficial trade union action regarding this matter.

The employees have also proposed that the protest be conducted during the upcoming budget session.

A special series of workshops on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ministerial staff officers will be held on August 15, 16 and 23 at the Temple Trees, with the aim of transforming the public service into a more productive and efficient sector.

Titled “AI for Transforming Public Service”, this series is an introductory initiative under the government’s flagship public sector digitization programme, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

It is designed to raise awareness, prepare officers for AI adoption and foster a positive mind-set toward artificial intelligence within the state service.

The first workshop was recently held for staff officers of the Presidential Secretariat, followed by the second for the Ministry of Education and the third for the Ministry of Finance. Upcoming sessions are planned for staff officers of all remaining ministries, the PMD added.

The resource panel includes Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Senior Adviser to the President on Digital Economy, Sanjaya Karunasena, Executive Director of the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and ICTA Board Members Harsha Purasinghe and Samisa Abeysinghe.

–PMD

The National Institutes of Health has laid off hundreds more staff, multiple current and laid-off employees of the health agency told CBS News, including at its cancer research institute.

Around 200 employees began receiving layoff notices Friday evening, said three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The move surprised NIH officials, since the department previously claimed no further cuts were planned at the agency. 

“We thought the worst was behind us, and we were transitioning into this new phase, and the rug was just pulled out from underneath us,” one laid-off employee said.

A spokesperson for the NIH did not comment on why NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya sought the additional layoffs, referring an inquiry to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH. An HHS spokesperson said that, after a review, the department had notified additional employees that they were “also impacted” by the layoffs plan announced in March. 

Fewer than 250 employees at the department received notices, the spokesperson said. An HHS official said that “the same number of employees will be brought back in critical areas” elsewhere at the department. 

Two people said they had been told that the second round of cuts was done as part of an effort to compensate for other scientists needing to be reinstated, in order to comply with layoff targets.

“The savings from these reductions will help redirect resources toward critical programs and strengthen our ability to serve the American people effectively. The goal is clear: reduce waste and maximize the impact of every taxpayer dollar,” the HHS spokesperson, Andrew Nixon, said in a statement.

Among the cuts on Friday were around 50 employees at the NIH’s National Cancer Institute, or NCI. They had worked in the institute’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison overseeing programs like the Cancer Information Service, which provides answers to doctors and patients about cancer, and updates to databases summarizing cancer information for healthcare providers. 

The layoff notices came a day after staff in that NCI communications office had met with top-ranking NIH leaders, to discuss drawing up plans to consolidate their staff into a new centralized communications arm across the agency. 

While several communications offices at the NIH’s institutes had been gutted during an initial round of layoffs on April 1, NCI’s team was spared. Only a handful of NCI staff had been laid off last month, two people said, including in the institute’s human resources teams.

“Leadership was in the process of transferring some process and some of our media relations people over to NIH, because they were still getting press inquiries, but they couldn’t handle the volume of inquiries that were coming through,” the laid-off employee said.