Anthropic’s CEO Flags AI Bubble Risks as Company Launches Interview Tool

Anthropic made headlines this week with CEO Dario Amodei addressing AI industry economics and the company rolling out a new tool to study AI’s role in work.

Amodei on Bubble Talk and Competitor Risks

At The New York Times DealBook Summit on December 4, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei weighed in on whether AI is in a bubble. He called the economics complex, staying bullish on the tech’s potential but warning some companies could face trouble from “timing errors” in matching data center builds to uncertain revenue growth. Amodei pointed to risks from competing with each other and countries like China, but said certain players are mishandling it by “YOLO-ing”—taking excessive gambles.

He also touched on AI chips losing value as newer, faster ones arrive, noting Anthropic plans conservatively. On revenue, Amodei said it jumped from zero to $100 million in 2023, then to $1 billion in 2024, and expects $8-10 billion by end of 2025. Still, he avoids banking on the trend continuing and plans for lower outcomes to avoid overbuilding compute capacity, which could lead to bankruptcy if demand lags.

Amodei took a subtle jab at competitors like OpenAI, whose recent PR flap involved their CFO suggesting government-backed loans for infrastructure. Read more in TechCrunch’s coverage.

Anthropic Interviewer Reveals Worker Views on AI

The next day, December 5, Anthropic launched Anthropic Interviewer, a Claude-powered tool for large-scale interviews. They tested it on 1,250 professionals: 1,000 from general jobs (heavy in education, tech, and arts), 125 creatives (mostly writers and visual artists), and 125 scientists (across fields like physics and data science).

Key findings from the interviews and surveys:

86% of general workers said AI saves time; 65% were satisfied with its work role.
Most expressed optimism, but topics like education use, artist job loss, and security drew pessimism.
General workers want AI to handle routine tasks while they oversee and keep identity-defining work.
Creatives use AI for productivity amid peer stigma and fears of economic displacement or lost human creativity.
Scientists desire AI for hypotheses and experiments but limit it now to tasks like writing or code debugging due to trust issues.
69% of general workers noted workplace stigma around AI use—one fact-checker hid their process after a colleague bashed it.

Anthropic released the interview data publicly (with consent) and plans more studies via Claude.ai pop-ups. Check details in Anthropic’s post.