By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 18, 2026 – Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company whose employees have become some of the most major financial backers of Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ campaign for Alaska governor, has quietly opened a physical laboratory for biological experiments in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The existence of the laboratory was first reported Thursday by Reuters and confirmed by the company, offering another glimpse into the rapidly expanding reach of one of the world’s most powerful, and increasingly politically connected, AI firms.
For Alaskans, the development raises questions about the extraordinary amount of money flowing from the artificial intelligence industry into the campaign of Kreiss-Tomkins, the leading Democrat in the race for governor who has already signed a letter praising President Biden’s Covid policies.
Campaign finance reports show six Anthropic employees contributed a combined $372,000 to Kreiss-Tomkins’ campaign. Overall, donors associated with the artificial intelligence industry have given his campaign more than $521,000 – more than one-quarter of all the money he had raised at the time of the report.
The concentration of contributions from individuals tied to one fast-growing California technology company raises an unavoidable question: What interest might those donors have in the policies of a future Alaska administration?
That question takes on greater importance as Anthropic expands beyond computer software and into biological research, laboratory automation and other areas that could eventually intersect with state regulation, public health policy, energy development, data-center construction and government contracting.
Eric Kauderer-Abrams, Anthropic’s head of life sciences, told Reuters that computer modeling alone is not enough for the company’s biological ambitions.
“We believe that to do biology, the final test is still and will be for a while in real lab work,” Kauderer-Abrams said. “We absolutely are doing that today.”
Anthropic described the San Francisco Bay Area facility as a “wet lab,” meaning it conducts hands-on experiments involving biological materials rather than limiting its research to computer simulations.
A company spokesperson said the facility is “not for drug discovery specifically” but declined to disclose its size, staffing, opening date, biosafety level or the precise nature of the experiments being conducted there.
The laboratory is part of a much larger push by Anthropic into the life sciences. The company has hired biologists, introduced its Claude Science workbench, acquired Coefficient Bio in a deal reportedly valued at about $400 million and developed systems intended to allow AI agents to direct robotic laboratory equipment.
Anthropic has said its objective includes helping researchers develop treatments for rare or neglected diseases. It has also said it intends to remain outside clinical trials so that it does not compete directly with pharmaceutical companies.
The company’s ambitions nevertheless extend well beyond providing a chatbot to scientists. Anthropic is working to connect Claude with physical laboratory hardware, potentially allowing artificial intelligence to design experiments, direct robotic equipment and evaluate results.
Kauderer-Abrams described that effort as being in the “very early innings” and said human oversight remains essential.
Anthropic’s life-sciences division is now reportedly one of the company’s largest areas by both staffing and spending. Its in-house facility supplements experiments conducted through outside laboratories and research partners.
Kreiss-Tomkins has made artificial intelligence policy part of his campaign platform, calling for greater oversight and even a potential pause on certain forms of AI development. That makes the scale of his financial support from AI-industry insiders increasingly relevant.
If elected, Kreiss-Tomkins would oversee an administration with influence over Alaska’s technology policy, state procurement, data infrastructure, health agencies, university partnerships and permits for major energy-intensive developments such as data centers.
Anthropic’s expansion into physical biology research also broadens the potential regulatory footprint of the company and the wider AI industry. What began as a race to build increasingly powerful computer models is moving into laboratories where AI systems could help design proteins, control equipment and conduct biological experiments.
With $372,000 arriving from just six people connected to the company, Alaskans have reason to examine who is financing his campaign, and what those donors may expect from a Kreiss-Tomkins administration in the way of health policy. After all, JKT was one of the founders of a Covid era company that provided bad data that was widely used by political leaders to enact shutdowns, vaccine mandates, and masking.
The money may have originated in California’s technology sector, but the political influence it buys could reach all the way to the Alaska governor’s office.
One thought on “Anthropic opens secretive ‘wet lab’ as company employees pour hundreds of thousands into Kreiss-Tomkins campaign”
And you Republicans are now just getting this figured out? AI research labs in California are all about getting Democrats and Marxists into political office. I’ve been worked with these people for months. We have a great game plan. Ever since Tony Knowles started supporting me, my numbers keep going up. You Republican fools are being laid waste in my dust. Weeks of it. Enjoy yourselves, suckers. LGBTQ is the only way to go.