WSJ Deep Dive: How Effective Altruism Made Doomerism Dominant at Anthropic
KateClarkTweets · x · 2026-09-28
WSJ reporters Keach Hagey and Jin Wu published a deep dive answering a recurring question: if Anthropic insiders believe AI has a meaningful chance of killing everyone, why keep building it?
The piece traces how effective altruism shaped Anthropic's culture and how doomerism became so influential inside the company. Reporting leads include a San Francisco group house, "clothing optional" swims in the Bahamas, and a Berkeley co-working space funded by an Anthropic investor's money that has become a central gathering place for those most worried about existential risk from AI.
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