Anthropic has updated its usage policy to prohibit “needless abusive or cruel behaviour” toward its Claude AI chatbot, focusing on repeated acts of cruelty without an apparent purpose.
The company’s latest rules also address election interference and weapons development. Earlier this year, Anthropic published a constitution for Claude that discussed the model’s “self worth” and the possibility that advanced AI systems could develop some functional form of emotions or feelings.
The policy change comes amid growing debate about whether artificial intelligence could ever possess moral status or experience subjective feelings. Critics have raised concerns about how companies treat increasingly capable systems, while researchers continue to disagree over whether current AI models can genuinely experience emotions.
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Anthropic bans ‘cruel’ behaviour against its Claude AI https://t.co/vKgoYEHFpF
— The Straits Times (@straits_times) October 9, 2026
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