Bill Gurley Says Anthropic Isn't Building Software—It's 'Midwifing A Deity'

Benchmark Capital‘s Bill Gurley accused Anthropic of believing it is building a superior species on Saturday, calling the AI safety firm “one of the most aggressive lobbying startups of all time.”

Gurley Sounds The Alarm

Speaking at the All-In Podcast, Gurley said, “I don’t think they think they’re writing software. I think they’re midwifing a deity.” He cited Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei‘s blog post “Machines of Loving Grace,” which envisions AI systems deciding how to allocate resources to humans, a structure Gurley called “a computational reward function for humans.”

"I've never ever seen a company that is both leading their field and the most negatively outspoken commenter on what they do," Gurley said, adding that Anthropic has helped "stir up a frantic position" around AI risks in the United States. He also pointed to the company's active engagement in state-level policy discussions.

‘Dr. Frankenstein Theory’

Gurley said that after spending roughly 30 days reviewing Anthropic’s public materials, including Amodei’s writings, podcasts featuring chief philosopher Amanda Askell, and documents related to the company’s constitutional AI framework, he developed what he calls the “Dr. Frankenstein theory.”

Under that theory, Gurley said he believes some Anthropic leaders are “excited about building a species that’s superior to humans” and view advanced AI as something more significant than software alone.

On the podcast, the discussion broadened into concerns about AI market concentration and open-source development.

In April, co-panelist Chamath Palihapitiya warned that advanced AI amounted to a “digital super-god,” one capable of disrupting any company or sector and triggering a structural reset in how risky tech assets are priced.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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