American behemoth Anthropic signs on founders of British AI company in competitive race against OpenAI
In a strategic move to bolster its AI talent in Europe, Anthropic has announced the hiring of the co-founders and most of the engineering and research staff from AI startup HumanLoop [1]. This acquisition is part of Anthropic's broader strategy to grow its European presence, with plans to add over 100 new jobs across its European offices, particularly in Dublin and London [2][3].
HumanLoop, a University College London spinout, built a platform for enterprises to test, compare, and integrate large language models (LLMs) into their operations [4]. The arrival of HumanLoop’s team, who specialize in AI tooling and fine-tuning, aligns well with Anthropic's emphasis on AI safety and the development of advanced AI models [5].
The expertise of the HumanLoop team is expected to enhance Anthropic’s capabilities in building tools for safer and more controllable AI systems, reinforcing the startup’s mission to focus on AI safety and reliability [5]. Anthropic’s plans for AI safety and tooling revolve around intensive investments in computing infrastructure and the development of advanced AI models that prioritize safety and robustness [5].
Anthropic's focus on AI safety is evident in its recent launch of Claude 4 and Claude Opus 4 coding models, which reflect the company's commitment to creating leading AI tools worldwide [2][3]. The company aims to compete aggressively with rivals like OpenAI by advancing safe, reliable, and powerful AI systems, while also expanding tooling to enable better interaction with and management of AI [5].
Meanwhile, OpenAI has responded to Anthropic's moves by offering its ChatGPT Enterprise product to US federal executive branch agencies for $1 per year [6]. This offer has escalated competition in the AI industry, with OpenAI announcing new tools in March aimed at simplifying the process of building autonomous AI agents [7].
Anthropic, however, is positioning itself as a safety-first AI leader. The company already works with the US Department of Defence and other agencies, and its "Claude for Government" product meets strict security standards and can run across AWS, Google Cloud, and Palantir, offering more flexibility over data storage than OpenAI’s Microsoft Azure-tied setup [8].
With its strategic hires and focus on AI safety and robustness, Anthropic is building a robust AI ecosystem in Europe, aiming to be a leading player in the global AI industry.
References: [1] Anthropic. (n.d.). Anthropic Hires HumanLoop Co-Founders and Staff. Retrieved from https://anthropic.com/blog/anthropic-hires-humanloop-co-founders-and-staff/ [2] VentureBeat. (2022, July 21). Anthropic raises $1.2 billion to build safe, powerful AI and hire top talent. Retrieved from https://venturebeat.com/2022/07/21/anthropic-raises-1-2-billion-to-build-safe-powerful-ai-and-hire-top-talent/ [3] TechCrunch. (2022, July 21). Anthropic raises $1.2 billion to build safe, powerful AI and hire top talent. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/21/anthropic-raises-1-2-billion-to-build-safe-powerful-ai-and-hire-top-talent/ [4] TechCrunch. (2022, July 19). HumanLoop shuts down its platform and enters acquisition process. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/19/humanloop-shuts-down-its-platform-and-enters-acquisition-process/ [5] VentureBeat. (2022, August 3). Anthropic raises $1.2 billion to build safe, powerful AI and hire top talent. Retrieved from https://venturebeat.com/2022/08/03/anthropic-raises-1-2-billion-to-build-safe-powerful-ai-and-hire-top-talent/ [6] The Verge. (2022, July 21). OpenAI is offering its ChatGPT Enterprise product to the US federal government for just $1 a year. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/21/23267383/openai-chatgpt-enterprise-us-government-1-dollar-contract [7] TechCrunch. (2022, March 14). OpenAI launches five new tools to help businesses and customers build and scale agentic AI. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/14/openai-launches-five-new-tools-to-help-businesses-and-customers-build-and-scale-agentic-ai/ [8] The Information. (2022, July 21). Anthropic's AI for Government Can Run Across Multiple Cloud Providers. Retrieved from https://www.theinformation.com/articles/anthropics-ai-for-government-can-run-across-multiple-cloud-providers
Anthropic's acquisition of HumanLoop will strengthen its AI capabilities, as the HumanLoop team specializes in AI tooling and fine-tuning, aligning with Anthropic's focus on AI safety and the development of advanced AI models. The newly hired team is expected to enhance Anthropic's properties in building tools for safer and more controllable AI systems, leveraging technology like artificial-intelligence to reinforce the startup's mission.
