PeopleofSuperintelligence

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Tarun Chhabra

Tarun Chhabra is a national-security policy adviser whose work ties AI strategy to U.S.–China competition and partnerships with allies. Raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, he studied at Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard Law School, then worked at the United Nations, the Pentagon, the NSC, Brookings, and Georgetown’s CSET. He received the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship in 2009, coauthored CSET’s 2020 Agile Alliances report, coedited Brookings’ 2021 Global China, and coordinated U.S. technology strategy from 2021 to 2025. As of October 2026, he advises Anthropic on geopolitics and national security policy.

Now at
Anthropic
Works
4
Links
X and LinkedIn

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 2009

    A Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship

    In 2009, he receives the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans to pursue a JD at Harvard Law School. Raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, he earns a BA at Stanford and an MPhil in international relations at Oxford. His early public service includes work in the U.N. Secretary-General’s Executive Office and as a research officer on the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.

  2. 2013–2019

    From Pentagon to Brookings

    From 2013 to 2015, he writes speeches for the U.S. secretary of defense at the Pentagon; from 2015 to 2017, he serves as director for strategic planning and director for human-rights and national-security issues at the NSC. From 2017 to 2019, he directs Brookings’ Project on International Order and Strategy.

  3. February 2019

    The China challenge brief

    In February 2019, he publishes Brookings’ The China challenge, democracy, and US grand strategy. The brief argues that China’s rise and strains within open societies threaten democracy, liberal values, U.S. alliances, and the liberal economic order.

  4. 2019–2025

    CSET and White House roles

    From 2019 to 2021, he serves as a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). From 2021 to 2025, he serves as deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for technology and national security on the NSC. He coordinates U.S. strategies for technology competition with China and partnerships with allies in AI, semiconductors, advanced biotechnologies, and quantum information science.

  5. February 2020

    Agile Alliances report

    In February 2020, he coauthors CSET’s Agile Alliances with Andrew Imbrie, Ryan Fedasiuk, Catherine Aiken, and Husanjot Chahal. The report urges the United States and its allies to shape AI around liberal democratic values.

  6. 2021

    Editing Global China

    In June 2021, Brookings releases Global China: Assessing China’s Growing Role in the World, coedited by Chhabra, Rush Doshi, Ryan Hass, and Emilie Kimball.

  7. 2025

    National security policy at Anthropic

    By May 2025, he is an Anthropic employee, one of several former Biden administration staffers the company has hired. In October 2025, he heads its national security policy.

  8. As of October 2026

    Anthropic advisory work

    As of October 2026, he advises Anthropic on geopolitics and national security policy.

Career

  1. Since 2025AnthropicNational Security Policy Adviser
  2. 2021–2025National Security CouncilStrategic planning
  3. United States Department of DefenseSpeechwriter
  4. United NationsResearch Officer

Education

  1. Stanford UniversityBA
  2. University of OxfordMPhil
  3. Harvard UniversityJD

From the biography.

  1. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes Tarun Chhabra. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  2. 22 of 133 people shaping AI with a former OpenAI role now work at AnthropicIncludes Anthropic. Our estimates of where OpenAI recruits came from and where 133 people with former OpenAI roles work now, including the companies and labs they founded.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Anthropic. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes Anthropic. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Tarun Chhabra yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Tarun Chhabra – Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans pdsoros.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. The China challenge, democracy, and US grand strategy | Brookings brookings.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Tarun Chhabra - Council on Global Competition & Innovation cgci.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Agile Alliances | Center for Security and Emerging Technology cset.georgetown.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Global China | Brookings brookings.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Anthropic emerges as an adversary to Trump’s big bill | Semafor semafor.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Tarun Chhabra on the Stakes of AI Competition chinatalk.media. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Anthropic Policy Chief Chhabra Transitions to Advisory Role | VFF - The signal in the noise vff.ai. Checked 21 October 2026.