Netflix’s Reed Hastings has joined Anthropic’s board of directors as part of the company’s effort to build a board with diverse expertise that will help guide its mission of developing safe, beneficial and steerable AI systems.
He was appointed by the Long-Term Benefit Trust due to his “impressive leadership experience, deep philanthropic work and commitment to addressing AI’s societal challenges,” chair Neil Buddy Shah said.
“Anthropic is very optimistic about the AI benefits for humanity, but is also very aware of the economic, social and safety challenges,” Hastings said in a statement. “I’m joining Anthropic’s board because I believe in their approach to AI development, and to help humanity progress.”
In addition to founding Netflix and serving as the streamer’s current board chairman, Hastings served on the boards of Facebook, Microsoft. He is currently still on the board at Bloomberg as well.
He recently made a $50 million donation to Bowdoin College to establish a research initiative that will examine how AI will transform work, relationships and education while developing ethical frameworks for its use. He has also donated hundreds of millions of dollars to charter school networks serving low-income U.S. communities and sits on the board of the Knowledge Is Power Program’s 275-school network.
Additionally, he has supported African farmers through Kenya’s One Acre Fund and subsidizes internet access in Rwanda, where he helped launch a program offering smartphones for $16 and 30GB of monthly data for $2.50—compared to prices 10 times higher in the U.S.
“Reed understands that technology companies have a responsibility beyond just building products,” Anthropic president Daniela Amodei said. “His focus on the human impact of technology—whether at Netflix or through his global health and education initiatives—makes him an ideal addition to our board as we continue building AI that helps rather than harms.”
