New research body studying AI's societal, economic, and legal impacts
Blog PostAnthropic launched The Anthropic Institute, an interdisciplinary research body led by co-founder Jack Clark (now Head of Public Benefit). Combines three existing teams — Frontier Red Team, Societal Impacts, and Economic Research — into a unified institute with ML engineers, economists, and social scientists. Notable hires include Matt Botvinick (ex-Google DeepMind/Yale) on AI and rule of law, and Anton Korinek on transformative economic effects. Coincided with DC office expansion and expanded Public Policy team.
The Institute merges three previously separate teams into a single interdisciplinary body. The Frontier Red Team stress-tests AI systems at the limits of their capabilities. Societal Impacts studies real-world AI usage patterns. Economic Research (behind the Economic Index) tracks labor market effects. Combining them enables holistic analysis — connecting what models can do, how they're actually used, and what economic effects follow.
Co-founder Jack Clark taking the 'Head of Public Benefit' title signals that societal impact research is a C-suite priority, not an afterthought. Clark's background in AI policy (co-authoring the AI Index at Stanford, founding Anthropic's policy team) makes him uniquely positioned to bridge technical research and public discourse.
Matt Botvinick (former Senior Director of Research at Google DeepMind, Professor at Princeton, Resident Fellow at Yale Law School) leading AI and rule of law research. Anton Korinek leading research on how transformative AI could reshape economic activity. These hires indicate the Institute aims to produce research at the level of top academic institutions, not just corporate reports.