4 Comments
User's avatar
Jena Wuu's avatar

Great issue as always!

Re: the Anthropic Institute -- can any company-owned 'think tank' be truly neutral? I've worked before on think tank-esque teams in tech, and in my experience companies are able to recruit top researchers because that's the only way to access critical data (also.... stock options). But then we end up with a world where the leading research on societal impact and ethics is owned and shaped by the companies.

Carley Lake's avatar

Such a good point! should think tanks only be non-for-profit? How do we make sure they are neutral parties? and yeah, it’s tough when a private, VC-backed company can offer more $$$ and a ton of equity/possible upside…

Jena Wuu's avatar

Really tough! Generally, I feel like research owned by companies about their own societal impacts can both be valid and warrant asterisks :-)

Ann Wehren's avatar

Thank you for the shoutout! Enjoying your other recs as always!