Anthropic published a new constitution for its AI model Claude, formally documenting the values, priorities, and behavioral standards intended to guide the system.
The document serves as the highest-level reference for how Claude is trained and how it is expected to operate in real-world use.
Anthropic said the constitution plays a direct role in model training, influencing both how Claude responds to users and how future versions of the model are developed.
Unlike prior versions, the updated constitution is written as a holistic narrative rather than a list of isolated rules, with the aim of helping Claude reason through complex tradeoffs rather than mechanically follow instructions.
The constitution outlines four core priorities for Claude: being broadly safe, broadly ethical, compliant with Anthropic’s guidelines, and genuinely helpful. In cases of conflict, Anthropic said Claude should generally prioritize safety first, followed by ethics, compliance, and helpfulness.
Anthropic released the full text of the constitution under a Creative Commons CC0 license, allowing unrestricted reuse.
The company said publishing the document was intended to improve transparency by clearly distinguishing between intended model behavior and areas where performance may still fall short.
Why This Matters Today
If you rely on AI systems for work, research, or decision-making, the constitution provides insight into how Claude is designed to behave when facing ambiguous or high-stakes situations.
Rather than optimizing only for usefulness, Anthropic is explicitly training the model to weigh safety, ethics, and oversight.
The move reflects growing scrutiny of AI governance as models become more capable and influential.
By publishing its guiding framework, Anthropic is signaling that alignment and transparency are core components of deployment, not afterthoughts.
The constitution also highlights a broader shift in AI development toward models that can generalize values and judgment, not just execute narrow tasks.
Anthropic said this approach is essential as AI systems encounter novel situations that cannot be fully anticipated by rigid rules.
Our Key Takeaways:
- Anthropic released a new constitution defining Claude’s values and behavior.
- The document directly shapes how Claude is trained and evaluated.
- The constitution is publicly available under an open license for transparency.
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