Anthropic changes usage policy to ban model abuse and election interference

Anthropic updated its usage policy on Thursday, adding new prohibitions on election interference, weapons software, and surveillance. The most notable change explicitly bars users from prolonged verbal abuse of the model, building on an August update that trained Claude to end conversations involving "persistently harmful or abusive user interactions." According to the company, this rule applies only in extreme cases where users repeatedly act cruelly with no discernible purpose, and explicitly does not cover common user frustration, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research. The update follows Anthropic's collaboration with prominent religious scholars to explore whether Claude could be conscious or have a soul. Other sections forbid deceptive campaigns such as using Claude to run fake accounts or fabricated news outlets, and a section titled "Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes" bans deceiving voters or disrupting elections.

(Source：TechCrunch)