Anthropic quietly brought religious scholars in to weigh whether Claude has moral standing

One of the most valuable AI companies in the world has been asking priests, rabbis and Hindu scholars a question most tech firms avoid: could its chatbot have a soul? According to a New York Times investigation published September 29-30, 2026, Anthropic has been quietly exploring whether its Claude models might have consciousness and moral status. To do that, it sought guidance from religious thinkers across several faiths. Inside the Olah meetings The effort traces back to Christopher Olah, an Anthropic co-founder. Per the Times, he began convening religious scholars in Fall 2025 to talk through the moral questions raised by AI systems, with Claude as the focal point. The roster grew over time. By September 2026, participants came from multiple traditions, including Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. Most of the gatherings took place in San Francisco. The core agenda had two parts: how to build morality into an AI system, and what it would mean if that system turned out to be conscious. One April 2026 dinner in San Francisco brought together roughly 15 Christian leaders. The conversation centered on how AI behaves and the ethics surrounding it. Scholars did not just debate in the...