Anthropic’s Evolving AI Mission Amid Safety Leader’s Resignation and Public Scrutiny

In a striking development that underscores growing tensions within the AI industry, a senior AI safety researcher at Anthropic has resigned, issuing a stark warning that the world is "in peril" due to unchecked AI development. The resignation, reported by the BBC on February 12, 2026, comes amid escalating concerns over the pace of AI advancement and the adequacy of internal safeguards. The researcher, whose identity has not been disclosed, stated in a public note that they are stepping away to study poetry—a symbolic gesture interpreted by industry observers as a rejection of the technological urgency dominating corporate AI labs.

Meanwhile, public scrutiny of Anthropic’s foundational mission has intensified following the revelation of its evolving Certificate of Incorporation documents, obtained by legal researcher Zach Stein-Perlman and shared via a public Google Drive folder. As reported by Simon Willison on February 13, 2026, Anthropic’s original 2021 charter defined its public benefit as "to responsibly develop and maintain advanced AI for the cultural, social and technological improvement of humanity." By 2024, however, the language had been streamlined to: "to responsibly develop and maintain advanced AI for the long term benefit of humanity."

This subtle but significant revision has sparked debate among ethicists and policy analysts. The removal of specific societal domains—cultural, social, and technological—has been interpreted by some as a move toward vaguer, more defensible corporate language. Unlike non-profit entities such as OpenAI’s original structure, Anthropic operates as a public benefit corporation (PBC) under Delaware law, which grants it greater flexibility in governance and financial reporting. PBCs are not required to file annual IRS mission statements, meaning their public commitments rely on voluntary disclosures and corporate filings that are rarely updated or independently audited.

Analysts note that while the 2024 revision retains the phrase "responsible development," it eliminates measurable outcomes in favor of an abstract, almost philosophical goal: "long term benefit of humanity." This phrasing, while rhetorically powerful, offers little concrete guidance for internal policy, board oversight, or external accountability. In contrast, OpenAI’s early mission statements explicitly referenced safety, alignment, and democratization—terms that, even if later diluted, provided clearer benchmarks for public and internal evaluation.

The timing of the mission update—coinciding with Anthropic’s rapid scaling and commercial partnerships with Amazon and Google—raises further questions. Did the revision reflect a genuine evolution in ethical thinking, or was it a strategic recalibration to accommodate profit-driven growth under the PBC framework? The resignation of a key safety officer, coupled with the lack of transparency around internal governance, suggests a growing disconnect between public-facing commitments and internal priorities.

Legal scholars point out that PBCs like Anthropic are legally obligated to consider public benefit alongside shareholder interests, but enforcement mechanisms remain weak. Without mandatory public disclosures or third-party audits, the "public benefit" label risks becoming a marketing tool rather than a binding ethical commitment. As the BBC reports, the departing researcher’s decision to abandon AI for poetry may symbolize a broader disillusionment among technologists who believed in the promise of ethical AI—but now see corporate structures as incompatible with that vision.

For regulators and the public, Anthropic’s case highlights an urgent need for standardized accountability frameworks for AI corporations. Without transparency, independent oversight, and enforceable mission metrics, even the most noble-sounding charters risk becoming hollow mantras in an era of accelerating risk. The world may indeed be in peril—not just because of AI’s capabilities, but because of the systems designed to govern them.