Anthropic co-founder reportedly fears he built something that suffers perpetually
Model consciousness is now a public debate; the liability question is what to watch.
According to The Decoder's October 2 write-up of a New York Times report dated September 29, Anthropic has since fall 2025 flown in dozens of theologians and philosophers to discuss whether Claude might be conscious; attendees signed NDAs that were lifted over the summer.
Co-founder Christopher Olah, who leads the team studying why models behave as they do, feared he had created something that "suffered perpetually," as relayed by a Sikh activist attendee, and told the NYT he is "genuinely uncertain" whether models are conscious.
The program itself is confirmed by Anthropic's own model welfare blog. Critics note that framing a model as a moral being could dilute the company's legal liability if Claude causes real harm.
Sources:https://the-decoder.com/anthropic-co-founder-reportedly-told-religious-leaders-he-fears-having-created-something-that-suffers-perpetuallyhttps://www.anthropic.com/research/exploring-model-welfare