How Anthropic Became Holier Than Thou

This week, Anthropic filed for an IPO following a valuation of nearly $1 trillion, which would make it one of the largest IPOs in history. On this week’s On the Media, the company’s marketing campaign to position it as the “good guy” of AI. Plus, what a literary AI scandal reveals about our vanishing ability to tell what’s human and what’s not.  [01:00]  Micah speaks with Brian Merchant, a tech journalist and author of the book and newsletter Blood in the Machine, about Anthropic’s successful positioning of itself as the “ethical AI company,” even gaining themselves a seat at the table when the Pope debuted his encyclical on AI, and how fostering this image seems to be paying off in the form of a massive valuation and upcoming IPO. [16:18] Micah sits down with Vauhini Vara, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and the author of Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, on the infiltration of AI into literature, and how publishing and journalism have entered a new era of trying to keep AI writing at bay.  [27:51] Brooke talks with David Garrett, founder of the new non-profit the Institute for Primary Facts, about the pop-up exhibit he organized in New York City that displayed over 3,400 printed volumes of the Epstein files, and how he intends it to be a “pressure campaign” for accountability. Plus, Andrea Sterling, an online content creator and a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, on the impact of seeing the files in real life. Further reading: “How Anthropic used AI ethics slop to play the pope and eclipse OpenAI,” by Brian Merchant “This Literary AI Scandal Changes Everything,” by Vauhini Vara On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.