'Anthropic Institute' is now live: What will it do?
What's the story
Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) company, has announced the launch of the "Anthropic Institute," a dedicated research body. The new team will focus on studying and communicating the societal, economic, and legal implications of advanced AI systems. The announcement comes as Anthropic expects major breakthroughs in AI technology within the next two years.
Research areas
Focus on AI values, governance, and self-improving systems
The Anthropic Institute will investigate the impact and challenges of powerful AI systems on jobs, economies, and global risks. It will also look into topics like AI values, governance, and self-improving systems. Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, will lead this new research body as its Head of Public Benefit. The team will include machine learning engineers, economists, and social scientists.
Team expansion
Prominent researchers join the new team
The Anthropic Institute has also hired several prominent researchers. These include Matt Botvinick, who will lead work on AI and legal systems; economist Anton Korinek, who will study how transformative AI could change economic activity; and Zoe Hitzig, who will connect economic insights with the training and development of AI models. The new team plans to merge three existing research groups from Anthropic: Frontier Red Team, Societal Impacts, and Economic Research.
Data utilization
Sharing insights with researchers and the public
The newly formed team at the Anthropic Institute will use Anthropic's work, insights, and data to identify potential threats and opportunities posed by AI. The team plans to share its findings on the risks and opportunities of developing frontier AI technologies with researchers and the public. This transparency is intended to help society prepare for rapid changes associated with transformative AI while mitigating associated risks.
Policy growth
Expansion of public policy team
Along with the launch of the Anthropic Institute, Anthropic is also expanding its public policy team. The company has appointed Sarah Heck as its new head of Public Policy. Heck previously served as head of External Affairs at Anthropic and led global entrepreneurship and public diplomacy policy at the White House National Security Council.