Ben Bernanke joins Anthropic AI oversight board

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has joined the independent oversight board of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, the company announced. Bernanke, who led the U.S. central bank through the 2008 global financial crisis, was appointed to the Anthropic Long-Term Benefit Trust, a body designed to guide the company's development of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity.

The Trust operates independently from Anthropic's management and investors, holding no equity in the company. It holds the authority to appoint members to Anthropic's board of directors and advises company leadership on critical decisions, particularly those involving the potential risks and societal impacts of AI. Bernanke, a Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the 2022 Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences, will bring his expertise in economics and financial crises to the role.

In a statement, Bernanke emphasized the importance of institutional governance around the technology. "The potential of artificial intelligence is enormous, and so is the range of outcomes," he said. "How that potential plays out will depend, in part, on the institutions we build around it."