- $61.5 billion AI giant Anthropic is on a hiring spree—but no applicants can use chatbots to get a leg up in the process. The company, founded by OpenAI staffers and executives, wants to assess candidates’ “non-AI-assisted communication skills.” It’s just one of many penalizing applicants for using the tech to get ahead in an AI-fueled hiring game.
The job hunt has become an all-out tech war—with ‘ghost’ postings, AI interviewers, and algorithms weeding out thousands of applicants, landing a gig has become a skill. But one of the world’s leading AI companies won’t let applicants use the tech to apply.
“While we encourage people to use AI systems during their role to help them work faster and more effectively, please do not use AI assistants during the application process,” AI lab Anthropic wrote in its job postings.
“We want to understand your personal interest in Anthropic without mediation through an AI system, and we also want to evaluate your non-AI-assisted communication skills.”
This rule is a switch-up from the narrative that if you don’t get well-versed in AI, you’ll fall behind in your job and career. And it’s a bit ironic that Anthropic—a company founded by OpenAI employees and executives—is curbing its own technology from being used. But its 200 job postings all require a human skill that would be clouded by chatbot output.
In a statement to Fortune, an Anthropic spokesperson said they’re open to updating this policy as AI tools quickly advance. But for now, the rule stands as it is.
“We want to be able to assess people’s genuine interest and motivations for working at Anthropic,” the spokesperson said. “By asking for candidates to not use AI to answer key questions, we’re looking for signals on what candidates value and their unique answers to why they want to work here.”
Why AI giant Anthropic doesn’t want algorithms in applications
Anthropic has been on quite a hiring spree, looking to fill roles such as machine learning systems engineers, brand designers, team managers, and partnerships leaders.
The jobs vary widely in scope and how deep into the tech they are, but they all share one thing in common: no AI is allowed in the application process.
At the top of every job posting, interested candidates have to check ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to Anthropic’s AI policy for applications. It’s followed up by an open-ended question, seeking a 200 to 400 word response: Why Anthropic? It’s a simple prompt, but one that many would probably turn to chatbots like OpenAI’s ChapGPT or Anthropic’s Claude to perfect. Yet the $61.5 billion technology company says it needs to “evaluate your non-AI-assisted communication skills” to make an informed hiring choice.
Anthropic’s rationale that AI systems may impede its understanding of candidates’ human skills is a commonly shared belief. Hiring managers in all industries have been quick to criticize applicants using the tech to get ahead—while many use it themselves in assessing candidates.
How AI has upended the interview process for job-seekers
While it’s uncertain if Anthropic’s hiring managers use the tech to optimize the talent acquisition process, many are doing it. Having to comb through thousands of applications for a single role, recruiters are leaning on AI to get by. But they aren’t so amused when the shoe is on the other foot.
About 80% of hiring managers dislike seeing AI-generated CVs and cover letters, according to 2024 data from CV Genius. And they’re confident in being able to pick up on the automated content; around 74% say they can spot when AI has been used in a job application. That can hurt an applicant’s prospects—over half of those hiring managers say they are significantly less likely to hire a candidate who used AI.
Yet AI has become deeply ingrained in people’s personal and work lives—even Anthropic conceded that the tech is revolutionary for its workers. They just first need to get over the human hurdles in hiring.
About 57% of job candidates used the OpenAI chatbot in their applications, according to 2024 data from Neurosight. Companies are promoting it, too—around 70% of workers say their organizations have received training on how to use generative AI correctly, according to a 2025 study from Accenture.
