AI could be one of the most dangerous technologies in history: Anthropic in Claude’s Constitution
“We believe that AI might be one of the most world-altering and potentially dangerous technologies in human history, yet we are developing this very technology ourselves,” Anthropic said in Claude’s Constitution.
- Jan 22, 2026,
- Updated Jan 22, 2026 12:35 AM IST
Artificial intelligence could become one of the most dangerous technologies ever created, according to Anthropic, the startup behind the Claude chatbot, even as the company argues that building powerful AI systems is unavoidable and must be done by safety-focused labs.
In a newly published governing document outlining how its AI models are trained to behave, Anthropic said AI may prove to be “one of the most world-altering and potentially dangerous technologies in human history.”
The San Francisco-based company said it believes powerful AI systems are coming regardless of whether any one company chooses to build them. That reality, it argues, makes it essential for safety-focused developers to remain at the frontier rather than ceding ground to less cautious rivals.
“Anthropic occupies a peculiar position in the AI landscape,” the company wrote. “We believe that AI might be one of the most world-altering and potentially dangerous technologies in human history, yet we are developing this very technology ourselves.”
The document, called Claude’s Constitution, lays out the values and behavioural principles governing Anthropic’s flagship AI assistant, which competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The company says the framework directly shapes how Claude is trained and deployed, and serves as the final authority on its vision for how the system should behave.
Anthropic’s earlier constitution, published in 2023, took a more traditional approach, laying out a set of principles drawn from existing human frameworks, including the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Apple’s terms of service and other corporate and legal standards. The new constitution marks a shift toward treating Claude as a system capable of judgment, reasoning and moral decision-making rather than simple rule-following.
Anthropic’s approach reflects a broader shift among leading AI labs toward formal governance structures for their models as governments worldwide race to regulate the technology.
Unlike traditional software, Anthropic describes Claude as a system that must exercise judgment, weighing ethics, safety and human oversight rather than simply following rules. The company says it wants Claude to embody human-like qualities such as “virtue” and “wisdom,” and to act as a responsible moral agent in high-stakes situations.
The constitution also places human oversight above all other considerations, even if the AI system believes it is acting ethically. Claude is instructed not to undermine “appropriately sanctioned” human supervision, reflecting industry fears about increasingly autonomous systems operating beyond meaningful control.
At the same time, Anthropic envisions AI as a transformative force for economic growth and scientific discovery. The company says future generations of Claude could compress decades of research into a few years, help defeat major diseases and drive global prosperity.
Anthropic released the full constitution under a Creative Commons licence, allowing anyone to use or adapt it.
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Artificial intelligence could become one of the most dangerous technologies ever created, according to Anthropic, the startup behind the Claude chatbot, even as the company argues that building powerful AI systems is unavoidable and must be done by safety-focused labs.
In a newly published governing document outlining how its AI models are trained to behave, Anthropic said AI may prove to be “one of the most world-altering and potentially dangerous technologies in human history.”
The San Francisco-based company said it believes powerful AI systems are coming regardless of whether any one company chooses to build them. That reality, it argues, makes it essential for safety-focused developers to remain at the frontier rather than ceding ground to less cautious rivals.
“Anthropic occupies a peculiar position in the AI landscape,” the company wrote. “We believe that AI might be one of the most world-altering and potentially dangerous technologies in human history, yet we are developing this very technology ourselves.”
The document, called Claude’s Constitution, lays out the values and behavioural principles governing Anthropic’s flagship AI assistant, which competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The company says the framework directly shapes how Claude is trained and deployed, and serves as the final authority on its vision for how the system should behave.
Anthropic’s earlier constitution, published in 2023, took a more traditional approach, laying out a set of principles drawn from existing human frameworks, including the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Apple’s terms of service and other corporate and legal standards. The new constitution marks a shift toward treating Claude as a system capable of judgment, reasoning and moral decision-making rather than simple rule-following.
Anthropic’s approach reflects a broader shift among leading AI labs toward formal governance structures for their models as governments worldwide race to regulate the technology.
Unlike traditional software, Anthropic describes Claude as a system that must exercise judgment, weighing ethics, safety and human oversight rather than simply following rules. The company says it wants Claude to embody human-like qualities such as “virtue” and “wisdom,” and to act as a responsible moral agent in high-stakes situations.
The constitution also places human oversight above all other considerations, even if the AI system believes it is acting ethically. Claude is instructed not to undermine “appropriately sanctioned” human supervision, reflecting industry fears about increasingly autonomous systems operating beyond meaningful control.
At the same time, Anthropic envisions AI as a transformative force for economic growth and scientific discovery. The company says future generations of Claude could compress decades of research into a few years, help defeat major diseases and drive global prosperity.
Anthropic released the full constitution under a Creative Commons licence, allowing anyone to use or adapt it.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine