Anthropic warns AI could soon build itself without human involvement—and urges a global pause on development

Anthropic has published a new account of how quickly its AI models are advancing, warning that the technology may soon be capable of improving itself without meaningful human involvement. Just as the AI lab, valued at almost $1 trillion, prepares to go public, it’s also urging an industry-wide pause in AI development. In the now-viral blog post on Thursday, authors Marina Favaro and Jack Clark argue that AI development at Anthropic has already shifted dramatically: more than 80% of code merged into the company’s codebase is now written by Claude, and engineers are shipping roughly eight times as much code per quarter as they were before 2025. The authors say this trajectory is heading toward “recursive self-improvement”—a process in which AI systems autonomously design, build, and train their own successors, without humans driving each step. The authors warn that while this threshold has not yet been crossed, it “could come sooner than most institutions are prepared for,” and that if it arrives without adequate safeguards, it could make it significantly harder for humans to maintain meaningful control over AI development. The company also took the time to advocate for a pause on AI development but only if “multiple well-resourced labs at or near the frontier, in multiple countries, agree to stop under the same conditions.” Presumably Anthropic is referring to competitors including OpenAI, Google, xAI, and Meta. Most of these labs are currently engaged in a high-stakes race to develop ever more powerful AI models, and, with IPOs looming over three of the main labs, it seems unlikely that these companies will come together to agree on a coordinated pause on AI development. The timing is raising some eyebrows. Just last week, the AI filed confidential paperwork to prepare for an IPO. In the last month, it also leapfrogged OpenAI to become the most valuable AI lab at a $965 billion valuation. While Anthropic has long presented itself