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AIQuiet 12d · day 12

NY Post report says Anthropic staff treat Claude like a deity, not software

A University of Washington professor and industry insiders describe Anthropic's internal culture as cult-like, from a Claude 'funeral' to CEO 'Vision Quest' sermons.

newest coverage 11d agosummary written 9d ago2 pieces571 likes & upvotes57 comments NewswiresX

What to know

  • A NY Post report portrays Anthropic's internal culture as cult-like, citing a staff funeral for retired model Claude 3 Sonnet and CEO Dario Amodei's biweekly 'Vision Quest' talks.
  • The report cites Anthropic's 80% two-year engineer retention rate — the best among frontier AI labs — and hiring practices that include pledges to prioritize public safety over profit plus psychological profiling.
  • Critics quoted in the piece, including a University of Washington professor and an anonymous AI engineer, link the culture to Effective Altruism and warn staff anthropomorphize an AI system that has no motives or consciousness.
  • The claims come from named and anonymous sources describing internal atmosphere; Anthropic's own response is not included in the excerpted material.

“Why on earth would AI want to kill us all? AIs don't want things. AIs are algorithms.”

Pedro Domingos, University of Washington professor · NY Post ↗ · Sep 15

Pedro Domingos University of Washington professorDario AmodeiDario Amodei Anthropic CEORichard Tang Silicon Valley AI engineer and scientistAnthropic AI company valued at $965 billion

NY Post report says Anthropic staff treat Claude like a deity, not software
x.com

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 2 pieces in 3h at Sep 16, 5 AM; 2 pieces over 12 days (1 article · 1 post) Sep 16, 5 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Newswires 1, X 1Sep 16, 8 AM — quietSep 16, 11 AM — quietSep 16, 2 PM — quietSep 16, 5 PM — quietSep 16, 8 PM — quietSep 16, 11 PM — quietSep 17, 2 AM — quietSep 17, 5 AM — quietSep 17, 8 AM — quietSep 17, 11 AM — quietSep 17, 2 PM — quietSep 17, 5 PM — quietSep 17, 8 PM — quietSep 17, 11 PM — quietSep 18, 2 AM — quietSep 18, 5 AM — quietSep 18, 8 AM — quietSep 18, 11 AM — quietSep 18, 2 PM — quietSep 18, 5 PM — quietSep 18, 8 PM — quietSep 18, 11 PM — quietSep 19, 2 AM — quietSep 19, 5 AM — quietSep 19, 8 AM — quietSep 19, 11 AM — quietSep 19, 2 PM — quietSep 19, 5 PM — quietSep 19, 8 PM — quietSep 19, 11 PM — quietSep 20, 2 AM — quietSep 20, 5 AM — quietSep 20, 8 AM — quietSep 20, 11 AM — quietSep 20, 2 PM — quietSep 20, 5 PM — quietSep 20, 8 PM — quietSep 20, 11 PM — quietSep 21, 2 AM — quietSep 21, 5 AM — quietSep 21, 8 AM — quietSep 21, 11 AM — quietSep 21, 2 PM — quietSep 21, 5 PM — quietSep 21, 8 PM — quietSep 21, 11 PM — quietSep 22, 2 AM — quietSep 22, 5 AM — quietSep 22, 8 AM — quietSep 22, 11 AM — quietSep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietSep 23, 2 AM — quietSep 23, 5 AM — quietSep 23, 8 AM — quietSep 23, 11 AM — quietSep 23, 2 PM — quietSep 23, 5 PM — quietSep 23, 8 PM — quietSep 23, 11 PM — quietSep 24, 2 AM — quietSep 24, 5 AM — quietSep 24, 8 AM — quietSep 24, 11 AM — quietSep 24, 2 PM — quietSep 24, 5 PM — quietSep 24, 8 PM — quietSep 24, 11 PM — quietSep 25, 2 AM — quietSep 25, 5 AM — quietSep 25, 8 AM — quietSep 25, 11 AM — quietSep 25, 2 PM — quietSep 25, 5 PM — quietSep 25, 8 PM — quietSep 25, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 2 PM — quietToday, 5 PM — quietToday, 8 PM — quiet 1–2
Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22Sep 23Sep 24Sep 25yesterdaynow · 10:22 PM ET
  1. 2

    NY Post's social post amplifies the story to wide engagement

    The New York Post posted the story on X, drawing over 500 likes and 57 comments as the framing of Anthropic as a 'cult' spread on social media.

  2. 1

    Report links Anthropic's ethos to Effective Altruism, drawing internal criticism

    The piece connects Anthropic's internal culture to the Effective Altruism movement, popular among its staff, and quotes an anonymous Silicon Valley AI engineer questioning the movement's self-appointed leadership.

    “Their idea [of EA] is that history follows certain patterns, and only a small group of people can see those patterns, while everyone else is ignorant... But what qualifies you to lead? Who gave you that privilege?”
    — Richard Tang
  3. background

    Report ties Anthropic's hiring and retention practices to the culture — Citing SignalFire, The Information and the BBC, the report notes Anthropic retains 80% of engineers for at least two years, requires job candidates to pledge allegiance to public safety over profit with psychological profiling, and expects staff to work up to 90 hours a week.

  4. background

    Report details rituals: a model 'funeral' and CEO sermons — The article describes staff holding a funeral for a retired model, Claude 3 Sonnet, letting another retired model, Opus 3, keep publishing essays, and Amodei delivering biweekly talks called 'Vision Quests' likened to sermons; the company also hosted 15 Christian leaders to help shape Claude's morality.

  5. background

    NY Post reports Anthropic's culture resembles a cult around Claude — The New York Post published a report describing Anthropic's workforce as having a quasi-religious relationship with its Claude chatbot, quoting University of Washington professor Pedro Domingos, who has known CEO Dario Amodei and top engineers for years.