- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei supports AI regulation despite commercial drawbacks
- The company avoids ad-based models to protect user privacy and prevent manipulation
- Anthropic’s board is appointed by financially disinterested individuals to ensure safety focus
Anthropic PBC Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei talked about why the company advocates for AI regulation even when it causes commercial damages, as the co-founder underlined the importance of warning the public about risks related to artificial intelligence.
In an interview with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath on his WTF podcast, Amodei highlighted Anthropic's philosophy of keeping the promises that they make.
"We are a for-profit public-benefit corporation with governance safeguards. We've pioneered alignment and interpretability research. We advocate for AI regulation even though it hurts us commercially. Warning about AI risks is not a good marketing strategy — but we do it because we think it's necessary," the former biologist said.
Dario also addressed other unconventional strategies that the company has which do not directly spell monetary boon such as avoiding an ad-based model for ethical and privacy reasons.
"A co-founder once gave Claude his diary. Claude identified fears he hadn't written down — and was mostly right. This can be positive — like an angel on your shoulder. But it can also enable manipulation," the Anthropic CEO pointed out.
Therefore, the rationale behind not going for an ad-based model is that if users do not pay, they become the product.
Further, he said that they created an unusual structure where the board is appointed by financially disinterested individuals. This ensures that if a conflict arises between "making more money" and "preventing a safety breach," the board isn't legally tied to maximising shareholder value.
Dario also cautioned against wrongful application and heavy reliance on AI. He argued that heavy AI-dependency risks eroding core cognitive abilities. “We did some studies around code… depending on how you use the model, we can see de-skilling,” he said. Similar concerns apply to education, where students may outsource thinking to AI tools.
Whether AI ultimately weakens or strengthens human capability depends on deployment choices. “If we deploy AI in the wrong way, if we deploy it carelessly, then yes, people could become stupider,” he said.
For younger workers navigating career choices, Amodei emphasised skills that machines struggle with today. “Critical thinking skills are going to be really important,” he said, particularly in a world where AI can generate convincing text, images and video.
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