Anthropic Puts an Astrophysicist in the Room Where Its Future Is Decided
Anthropic has appointed Harvard physicist Christopher Stubbs to its Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT). His appointment brings a scientific perspective to the group that helps oversee the AI company’s mission to benefit the public.
“I am honored to join Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust and to help the company fulfill its mission to benefit the public,” Stubbs said in a press release announcing his appointment. “I use AI tools in my research every day and see what they make possible, and as an educator I have faced some of the difficult questions they raise. As a grandfather, I want to help make sure AI is developed and used in ways that benefit humanity over the long term.”
Anthropic is a Public Benefit Corporation. This type of company is designed to grow financially while also serving the wider interests of society. The LTBT was created to help maintain this balance over time. It oversees the company and helps ensure that Anthropic remains accountable for how it develops and uses AI systems.
Stubbs is the Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Harvard University. He served as Dean of Science there from 2018 to 2024. His research covers cosmology and precise measurements. He has also advised on national security and arms control.
He was also part of the High-Z Supernova Search Team. The team’s work helped show that the universe is expanding at an increasing rate. It later received the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
He previously served as the first project scientist for what is now the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The observatory began a 10-year survey of the southern sky in June.
More recently, Stubbs has written about the difficulty of getting consistent results in research that uses AI. AI models can give different answers even when they receive the same prompt, making it harder for researchers to repeat their work and get the same results.
“When Chris found evidence that the universe was expanding at a rate no one expected, he and his team followed the data even when it went against the prevailing wisdom of the field. As AI starts to transform how science itself is done, Chris’s intellectual honesty, rigor, and commitment to the truth are the values we want shaping the future of this technology, and I’m grateful he’s bringing his deep expertise to the Trust,” said Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic.
Neil Buddy Shah, chair of the Long-Term Benefit Trust, said that developing powerful AI safely requires a strong understanding of science and a commitment to honesty and high standards.
“Not only has Chris worked on some of the hardest problems in science, but he has consistently been a high-integrity leader of large, complex, collaborative scientific endeavors across academia, government, and the national laboratories. That will be of great value to the Trust as we support Anthropic in developing AI for the long-term benefit of humanity,” Shah said.
Anthropic said the trustees work independently of the company’s managers and investors. They advise the company’s leadership on major decisions involving AI risks and the possible effects of AI on society.
On the LTBT, Stubbs will join the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Neil Buddy Shah; the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, Richard Fontaine; former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke; and Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who joined Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences in July.
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