Dario Amodei: up to 40% of time goes to Anthropic culture

Amodei's comments come as Anthropic has grown to 3,500 employees and is set to go public as early as next month in an IPO that could reach $2 trillion. He said that as the company expanded and revenue skyrocketed, it became nearly impossible to weigh in on every technical and product decision, so he shifted focus to the bigger picture: making sure employees like working there, that the mission and values are clear, and that workers pull in the same direction.

His approach echoes the "radical transparency" style of Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio, who encourages honest feedback even to senior members. Critics have said such no-holds-barred communication could make employees more closed off. Amodei's emphasis on culture also sits alongside a policy change: Anthropic earlier this year updated its Responsible Scaling Policy, dropping a pledge not to continue training AI beyond a certain capability level unless safety measures were adequate, citing competitive pressures and a lack of regulations. Critics implied this shifts Anthropic away from its safety-first identity, even as Amodei and the company have been among the loudest voices calling for AI regulation.