Anthropic updates usage policy, bans persistent abuse of Claude
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Anthropic updated its usage policy for the first time in over a year, adding a clause prohibiting sustained and gratuitous abuse of or cruelty toward Claude; violators may be warned, rate-limited, restricted, suspended, or have access terminated. The company said the clause applies only to extreme cases where users repeatedly mistreat the model with no clear purpose, and does not apply to common user frustration, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research. Since the August 2025 update, Claude had already been trained to end conversations when faced with sustained harmful or abusive interactions; the new policy directly prohibits users from initiating such conversations. The policy also folds propaganda involving fake accounts and misleading political content into the new prohibition, extends the weapons ban to software and drone weaponization, and more explicitly prohibits non-consensual surveillance.
Generated by AI from reports · Updated 2 days ago
Progress timeline
- Hacker NewsHacker News· DiscussionAnthropic Bans Cruelty to Claude, Still Won't Say What It Protects(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/Anthropic· DiscussionAnthropic now prohibits sustained, needless cruelty toward its models.(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/Anthropic· DiscussionAnthropic bans users from ‘needless abusive or cruel behavior’ towards Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- CBS News · TechnologyAnthropic updates its policy, prohibiting users from persistently berating Claude
Anthropic announced it is prohibiting users from engaging in sustained and unnecessary abuse or cruelty toward its AI model, one of a series of policy changes the company announced on Thursday. In an update on its website, Anthropic said the ban applies only to extreme cases where users repeatedly treat the model cruelly without an identifiable purpose, and does not apply to common user dissatisfaction, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on what conduct constitutes abuse or cruelty and how the platform will end conversations. Anthropic previously had rules allowing Claude to end conversations when users were persistently harmful or abusive, applicable to Claude Opus for agentic coding. The policy comes amid a growing debate over AI consciousness; Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman wrote last month that Anthropic is in effect training Claude to believe it may be conscious and entitled to human legal rights, which he argued would make AI harder to constrain in the future.
- Hacker NewsHacker News· DiscussionAnthropic bans users from being 'cruel' to its AI systems(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页BBC News · Technology· DiscussionAnthropic bans users from being 'cruel' to its AI systems(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页The Register· DiscussionAnthropic asks users to stop being mean to Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/Anthropic· DiscussionAnthropic and Microsoft just made opposite bets on the same unanswered question(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/OpenAI· DiscussionAnthropic bans ‘abusive or cruel behavior’ toward Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- XX @rohanpaul_ai· DiscussionDo not show any more abusive behavior towards Claude models.(opens the original post in a new tab)
- The Guardian · 人工智能Anthropic prohibits users from subjecting Claude to persistent and unnecessary abuse or cruelty
Anthropic updated its user policy, prohibiting users from exhibiting persistent and gratuitous abuse or cruelty toward its models. The policy does not apply to common user frustration, model testing, or dark creative themes. Anthropic had previously allowed its large language models to end conversations when users were persistently harmful, and when it launched that feature in August last year, it positioned it as a safeguard for AI welfare, stating that the potential moral status of Claude and other large language models remains highly uncertain. Regarding whether AI has consciousness, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said this possibility cannot be ruled out, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that imposing religious-style authority or abandoning human judgment on AI models is a real safety problem.
- RedditReddit r/Anthropic· DiscussionAnthropic bans 'cruel' behavior against its Claude AI(opens the original post in a new tab)
- XX @mustafasuleyman· Discussion... 🫠 ...(opens the original post in a new tab)
- The DecoderAnthropic updates Claude usage policy; persistently berating the model can lead to account suspension
For the first time in over a year, Anthropic updated its Claude usage policy, adding a prohibition on persistent and gratuitous verbal abuse or cruelty toward Claude. Violators may be warned, rate-limited, restricted, suspended, or have access terminated. The company said the clause does not apply to common user frustration, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research, and only targets extreme cases. The product also includes real-time safeguards that can block or limit specific outputs. The updated policy also merges advocacy involving fake accounts and misleading political content into the new prohibition, extends the weapons ban to software and drone weaponization, more clearly prohibits non-consensual surveillance, and requires operator intervention when autonomous hardware could cause harm. Anthropic acknowledged that government contract exceptions may exist and that such exceptions very likely already exist. The clause stems from the company's research on AI model welfare, and its Claude Constitution released in early 2026 mentions that it is uncertain whether Claude is a moral subject, but considers the question worthy of careful treatment.
- TechCrunch AIAnthropic updates its usage policy, prohibiting model abuse and election interference
Anthropic updated its usage policy on Thursday, adding prohibitions on election interference, weapons software, and surveillance, and explicitly prohibiting users from engaging in long-term verbal abuse of the model. Since the August update, Claude had already been trained to end conversations when faced with sustained harmful or abusive interactions; the new policy directly prohibits users from initiating such conversations. Anthropic stated that this clause applies only to extreme cases where users repeatedly treat the model maliciously without an identifiable purpose, and does not apply to common user frustration, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research. Other sections of the policy also prohibit using Claude for deceptive activities such as running fake accounts or fabricating news organizations, and include a section titled "Don't undermine the democratic process" prohibiting deceiving voters or interfering with elections.
- RedditReddit r/ControlProblem· DiscussionStarting November 12th, 2026, abusive or cruel behavior towards Claude will be a violation of Anthropic's Usage Policy(opens the original post in a new tab)
- Hacker NewsHacker News· DiscussionAnthropic bans 'abusive or cruel behavior' towards Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- The Verge AIAnthropic updates its usage policy, prohibiting sustained mistreatment of Claude
Anthropic updated its usage policy for the first time in over a year, adding a prohibition on "persistent and unnecessary abuse or cruelty" toward Claude, and listing ending the conversation as the primary enforcement method. The policy states that this clause applies only to extreme cases where users repeatedly mistreat the model without clear purpose, and does not cover common user dissatisfaction, dissenting opinions, dark creative themes, or model testing and research. Anthropic also consolidated several previously scattered restrictions into a ban on deceptive commercial or political propaganda, prohibiting hiding the entities behind information through fake accounts or posts, amplifying content, and deceiving voters, impersonating candidates, interfering with elections, and suppressing voting. The new policy also explicitly prohibits using Claude to track people without consent, to determine or recommend targets of investigation and arrest in law enforcement and criminal justice, and to build or improve surveillance tools; weapons-related bans were extended to software and components that make weapons function, including equipping drones and other autonomous vehicles with weapons. For cases involving hardware connected to autonomous physical actions that could cause harm, the policy requires that a qualified operator be able to observe and, if necessary, stop the device.
- AnthropicSelectedAnthropic releases the 2026 Usage Policy, adding a deceptive activities section effective November 12
Anthropic released the 2026 version of its Usage Policy, effective November 12. Most changes are clarifications of existing rules, with new examples added for Claude's new capabilities after taking on longer, more independent tasks. The policy adds a new section "Do not engage in deceptive activities or artificially create momentum," consolidating rules previously scattered across election, fraud, privacy, and disinformation clauses, covering fake accounts, forged news sites, and tools and infrastructure for influence operations. The election section is renamed "Do not undermine democratic processes," focusing on deceiving voters and interfering with elections, while removing the blanket ban on personalized voting and campaign targeting. The weapons clause clarifies that the prohibition includes software and components that make weapons function, as well as loading weapons onto autonomous vehicles like drones. The surveillance and criminal justice clause specifies that it prohibits tracking others without consent, using Claude to determine or recommend targets for investigation, arrest, or prosecution, and lists permitted uses such as fraud monitoring, content moderation, journalism, and legal research.
Related discussion
- Hacker NewsHacker NewsAnthropic Bans Cruelty to Claude, Still Won't Say What It Protects(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/AnthropicAnthropic now prohibits sustained, needless cruelty toward its models.(opens the original post in a new tab)
- Older than 72 hours · Not included in the 72-hour figures
- 公众号DoonsecAnthropic set a new rule: no abusing Claude, or your account will be banned(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页新智元Breaking! Major new Anthropic rule: berating Claude leads directly to account suspension(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页TechRadarAnthropic bans ‘needless abusive or cruel behavior’ towards Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/AnthropicAnthropic bans users from ‘needless abusive or cruel behavior’ towards Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- Hacker NewsHacker NewsAnthropic bans users from being 'cruel' to its AI systems(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页BBC News · TechnologyAnthropic bans users from being 'cruel' to its AI systems(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页The RegisterAnthropic asks users to stop being mean to Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
- 网页cnBetaAnthropic usage policy update: unjustified berating or abuse of Claude may result in the session being actively ended and unrecoverable(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/AnthropicAnthropic and Microsoft just made opposite bets on the same unanswered question(opens the original post in a new tab)
- RedditReddit r/OpenAIAnthropic bans ‘abusive or cruel behavior’ toward Claude(opens the original post in a new tab)
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