Anthropic appoints former Atlassian exec David Masters as ANZ head of policy
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The news: Atlassian’s former head of global public policy David Masters has been appointed as Anthropic’s head of policy for ANZ.
The context: Masters stepped down from his role at Atlassian in March 2026 after nearly five and a half years with the Nasdaq-listed software giant. He has also previously worked as a corporate affairs director for Microsoft and in government business strategy for HP Enterprise Services.
Masters joins Anthropic’s lobbying ranks after the US government put export restrictions on its Fable product, a public release version of its Mythos model which the AI lab has warned could be a major cybersecurity risk.
The AI lab also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian federal government to collaborate on safety and development in April. Copyright laws also remain a key sticking point for bringing frontier model training onshore.
Anthropic officially launched its Sydney office in mid-March. Its lobbying ranks include Labor-affiliated Anacta Strategies, SEC Newgate and Carolyn Hough’s Policy Australia.
What they said: “It’s critical that Australia plays a key role in AI’s development and deployment to ensure we make this transition safely and securely,” Masters said in a LinkedIn post.
“I’m excited to be joining Anthropic, a company at the forefront of this technological moment with a strong belief in, and commitment to, acting responsibly. I look forward to creating a real two-way conversation with State and Federal governments.”
The source: LinkedIn post
