The Big Story 

Anthropic’s corporate political action committee poured $161,000 into campaigns across the aisle last month, bringing their total third-quarter spending to more than $250,000, according to spending records first shared with The Hill.

© Patrick Sison, Associated Press

The employee-funded PAC, AnthroPAC, spent more than $255, 000 across the third quarter, marking the artificial intelligence firm’s latest push for political clout in Washington.

The party breakdown for Anthropic’s total third-quarter contributions was 50.6 percent for Republicans and 49.4 percent for Democrats.

Overall, AnthroPAC spent $130,000 on Republican campaigns and $125,500 on Democrats in the third quarter, according to spending records obtained by The Hill ahead of the monthly federal filing deadline next Tuesday.

September was the company’s biggest month for spending as the midterm election approaches. About $77,000 was spent in August, and $17,500 in July.

Recipients of the political donations include the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and various party-affiliated PACs.

Anthropic launched the employee-funded PAC in April, and it is overseen by a bipartisan board.

The donations are capped at $5,000 per person per year under federal law and will be publicly reported through Federal Election Commission filings.

Other technology companies such as Nvidia, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have similarly structured PACs. 

Read more on who AnthroPAC donated to at TheHill.com

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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The Refresh 

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Crypto Corner 

Trump’s top crypto adviser departs administration

© AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File

President Trump's top cryptocurrency adviser is leaving the administration.

Patrick Witt, who served as executive director of the president’s council of advisers for digital assets, called his time in the administration “the privilege of a lifetime” late Wednesday and hinted at a move to the private sector.

“I’m grateful to have done my part to unleash American innovation while in government, and I look forward to advancing that same mission in the private sector!” he wrote in a post on the social platform X.

A White House official confirmed Witt’s detail had expired, noting crypto and the Clarity Act “will continue to be a priority for the President.”

Witt previously worked on the Trump transition team and held key roles at the Pentagon before taking over as the president’s top crypto adviser. His predecessor, Bo Hines, left the administration last August shortly after the GENIUS Act was signed into law.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

In Other News 

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Tillis calls on Pentagon inspector general to investigate Ukraine’s Starshield loss

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) says he and his Senate colleagues will ask the Defense Department’s inspector general to investigate Ukraine’s sudden loss of access to the military version of Starlink, known as Starshield, which hampered Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian drones. Tillis said the “snafu” that left Ukrainian civilian and military targets exposed now appears to have been caused by something that happened at the …