Anthropic Updates Claude ‘Constitution’ to Reinforce Safety and Ethics Strategy

New updates have been reported about Anthropic.

Anthropic has published a substantially expanded version of Claude’s “Constitution,” sharpening the company’s core strategic differentiator: its Constitutional AI safety framework. Timed with CEO Dario Amodei’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the updated 80‑page document codifies the principles that govern how Claude behaves, adding more granular guidance on ethics, user safety, and responsible assistance. The Constitution is central to Anthropic’s product positioning as a safer, more predictable AI system for enterprises and regulators, and the revision signals an intent to deepen that identity as the AI safety and compliance landscape becomes more scrutinized globally.

The revised Constitution details four core values that are designed to guide model behavior across real‑world use cases, with extensive sections on safety, ethical practice, and user helpfulness. On safety, Anthropic specifies that Claude must proactively avoid high‑risk domains such as instructions for self‑harm or bioweapons, and, in cases indicating acute mental health risk, steer users toward appropriate emergency or support services. On ethics, Anthropic emphasizes not abstract debate but “ethical practice” in concrete situations, aiming for behavior that can stand up to real‑world scrutiny from businesses, policymakers, and civil society. The helpfulness provisions instruct Claude to weigh users’ immediate requests against their long‑term well‑being and to interpret user intent in a way that balances usefulness with risk mitigation. The document also explicitly raises the question of AI moral status and consciousness, underscoring Anthropic’s willingness to engage with long‑term governance issues that may shape future regulation and stakeholder expectations. Together, these moves reinforce Anthropic’s strategy to differentiate on governance, safety, and trustworthiness—key factors for winning enterprise, government, and partner adoption in a competitive foundation model market.