Short answer: Anthropic is an American AI company that makes the Claude models. It was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI staff, including the siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei. The company puts a strong emphasis on safety.
The company
- Founded in 2021. Dario Amodei was previously VP of Research at OpenAI. He started Anthropic with his sister Daniela and other former colleagues. In May 2021 the company announced its first funding round.
- Leadership. Dario Amodei is co-founder and CEO. Daniela Amodei is co-founder and President, and also chairs the board.
- Public benefit corporation. Anthropic is a public benefit corporation. In the company's own words, its purpose is the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity. The board is elected by the stockholders and by a separate Long-Term Benefit Trust.
Claude
Claude is the name of the AI assistant and of the models behind it. Anthropic made Claude more widely available on 14 March 2023, through a chat interface and an API for developers. At launch, Anthropic listed uses such as summarising, search, writing, answering questions and coding.
There are several Claude models side by side, smaller and faster ones and larger, more capable ones, and the names and versions change regularly. That is why we deliberately give no version numbers here. Check Anthropic's site for the current line-up.
What is Anthropic known for?
Safety is central to how the company presents itself. Anthropic says it wants to build AI that is reliable, interpretable and steerable, and it researches, among other things, how to understand what goes on inside an AI model (interpretability).
Anthropic also published a widely read practical piece on AI agents (Building effective agents, December 2024). More on that in What is an AI agent?
What does this mean for you?
Claude is one of the big general-purpose AI assistants, alongside ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok. Which one suits you depends on the task, your budget and where your data may be processed. Try the same task in several tools before you choose.
As of October 2026. Company details and models change fast; check the current situation at the source.
Sources
- Anthropic: Company
- Anthropic: Leadership
- Anthropic: Introducing Claude (14 March 2023)
- TechCrunch: Anthropic is the new AI research outfit from OpenAI's Dario Amodei (28 May 2021)
- Anthropic: Building effective agents (December 2024)
Accessed 21 October 2026.