Engineers at Anthropic are worshipping a new God, claims report and why it is worrying analysis
Anthropic engineers are reportedly going as far as “worshipping” Claude, the AI model developed by their company, according to a report cited by Futurism. The claim is based on a Silicon Valley rumor and has not been independently established. Still, the idea is raising questions about how people working closely with increasingly powerful AI systems view the technology they are building. The report points to a wider debate in the AI industry, where some technology leaders have described future AI in terms that sound almost god-like. The concern is not simply about the word “worship”. It is about what can happen when people begin treating an AI system as an authority rather than as a technology.
Report claims some Anthropic engineers worship Claude
According to the Futurism report, the rumor was described by The Spectator writer Sean Thomas as being widely discussed in Silicon Valley. Thomas reportedly wrote that some Anthropic engineers were “worshipping” Claude.The report also cites The Information, which has reported that people applying to Anthropic must commit to AI safety and undergo a psychological profiling test.The report connects the Claude claim to a longer discussion around how some people describe advanced AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously referred to future AI as a “magic intelligence in the sky.”
Why the idea of AI becoming a “God” matters
The report also notes that some AI products have adopted religious themes. One example is Bible Chat, an AI-powered prayer app that presents itself as a faith-focused service. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pushed back against the idea that AI companies are creating something like God. “It’s almost as if they kind of think they’re creating God or something,” Zuckerberg said in 2024, while discussing AI with YouTuber Kane Sutter.The concern becomes more serious when people begin treating AI responses as unquestionable. The report refers to cases described as “AI psychosis”, where people can develop strong beliefs based on interactions with AI systems. It says some users have come to believe they are prophets or divine figures.The report also points to the working conditions at frontier AI companies. It cites a BBC report describing some employees working as many as 90 hours a week, along with demanding performance reviews and layoffs.For employees spending long hours developing increasingly capable AI systems, the technology can become a major part of their professional lives.
