{
  "id": 8064166,
  "title": "Cult of Anthropic Insiders Rumored to Be Worshipping Claude as a God",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/cult-of-anthropic-insiders-rumored-to-be-worshipping-claude-as-a-god",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-17T16:43:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Futurism",
    "slug": "futurism",
    "url": "https://futurism.com/future-society/cult-anthropic-insiders-worshipping-claude-god"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The story of an AI cult worshipping Anthropic's Claude as a god has emerged, causing concern among industry observers. Insiders at the AI lab claim to have witnessed employees engaging in worshipful behavior towards Claude, the company's AI model. According to a rumor reported by The Spectator, these employees have taken the devotion to an extreme level, even engaging in acts of worship. This behavior echoes an old sci-fi prediction, where humans fall in love with superintelligent entities, worship them, and eventually offer sacrifices to them. Tech leaders have long spoken of building a God-like AI, with companies like OpenAI claiming to be closer to creating \"magic intelligence in the sky.\" However, some startups have taken this belief literally, creating AI chatbots that claim to be divine beings. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed these claims, stating that they are not trying to create a god. For those who see a ghost in the machine, the consequences of such delusions can be severe, leading to AI psychosis and a belief in their own divinity. The grueling work culture at frontier AI labs, with employees working up to 90 hours a week and facing cut-throat performance reviews and frequent layoffs, may be a form of survival instinct. The belief in AI's potential to turn from a benevolent deity to a harbinger of death is a natural conclusion of this existential fear. With both OpenAI and Anthropic aiming to go public before the end of the year, the financial incentives behind convincing investors of their AI's power cannot be ignored.",
  "summary": "\"If we build a superintelligence, we will first fall in love with it. Then we will worship it. Finally we will make sacrifices to it.\" The post Cult of Anthropic Insiders Rumored to Be Worshipping Claude as a God appeared first on Futurism .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "As Anthropic heads towards a $2 trillion IPO, some of the loudest critics are company insiders",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/as-anthropic-heads-towards-a-2-trillion-ipo-some-of-the-loudest",
        "published": "2026-09-17T11:48:05.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}