A writer recounts an incident roughly eleven years earlier on a subway's Red Line, where he pulled the emergency brake believing a passenger's arm was trapped in a closing door as the train began moving. The man freed his arm once the train stopped, though his bag remained caught; another passenger who was closer to the scene later said it looked like only the bag, not an arm, was stuck in the door. The writer says the episode resurfaced in conversation at an effective altruism dinner and prompted him to compare it with philosophical thought experiments like the trolley problem and Scanlon's Transmitter Room.
jefftk.com
· 2026-11-11
A report highlights that the name 'Claude', used by Anthropic for its AI chatbot, was already in use by a salad dressing company before Anthropic adopted it. The piece also raises questions about Anthropic's 'effective altruism' philosophy, suggesting it carries its own complications.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-25
A commentary argues that much of the AI safety movement traces back to Eliezer Yudkowsky and a small, insular Berkeley group that critics, including OpenAI's Roon, have described as a 'sex cult.' The piece notes Yudkowsky's public influence on major AI figures and policymakers, including advising Bernie Sanders, despite efforts by some in the movement to downplay his role.
verysane.ai
· 2026-10-23
Peter Thiel has been giving closed-door, invitation-only talks in San Francisco and, in March, Rome, arguing that effective altruism's apocalyptic AI-safety worldview risks producing what he calls the Antichrist. The lectures build on a 2023 talk at the Catholic University of America and focus on eschatology, the theological study of end-times. Thiel reportedly described the secrecy around the talks as good marketing, since restricting access generates more attention than making them public.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-20
An opinion column examines why some technologists have adopted pessimistic, 'doomer' views about AI's risks to humanity. It cites commentary from an AI cybersecurity specialist who attributes this shift to the growing influence of the effective altruism philosophy within tech circles.
wsj.com
· 2026-10-09
A report examines how adherents of effective altruism, a movement focused partly on preventing existential risks from advanced AI, have influenced thinking and staffing at Anthropic. It traces personal and professional ties between EA-affiliated researchers and the company's safety-focused culture.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-27
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