Jack Clark is one of Anthropic’s seven co-founders and its head of policy — and his path to one of the most influential AI policy roles in the world is unlike any other founder’s. He started as a technology journalist at Bloomberg, became fascinated by the systems he was covering, and eventually joined the field itself. He co-founded the Import AI newsletter, helped shape policy at OpenAI, and in March 2026 launched the Anthropic Institute.
Early Career: Bloomberg Journalist
Before working in AI, Jack Clark was a technology journalist at Bloomberg, covering the emerging machine learning field. His beat gave him unusual access to the researchers and companies driving AI development — and apparently convinced him that the technology was significant enough to work on directly rather than just report about. The transition from observer to participant is rare in any field; in AI, where technical depth is typically assumed, it’s even more unusual.
Import AI: The Newsletter That Shaped a Community
Clark founded Import AI, a weekly newsletter covering AI research and policy, which became one of the most widely read publications in the machine learning field. The newsletter’s distinctive approach — combining technical paper summaries with policy implications and geopolitical analysis — established Clark’s voice as someone who could bridge the technical and policy worlds. Import AI helped shape how the AI research community thought about the broader implications of its work.
At OpenAI: Policy Research
Clark joined OpenAI as Head of Policy Research, where he worked on the intersection of AI capabilities research and policy implications — including early work on the potential misuse of large language models and the policy frameworks needed to address those risks. This work directly informed his perspective on what a safety-focused AI organization should look like.
Co-Founding Anthropic
Clark was among the seven co-founders who left OpenAI in 2021 to start Anthropic. In a founding team dominated by machine learning researchers and engineers, Clark brought a different but essential skill set: the ability to translate AI capabilities research into policy language, communicate with regulators and legislators, and represent Anthropic’s perspective in the public debates shaping AI governance.
The Anthropic Institute
In March 2026, Clark launched the Anthropic Institute — a new research division focused on AI policy, governance, and societal impact. The Institute represents Anthropic’s increasing investment in the policy and governance infrastructure surrounding frontier AI development, complementing the company’s technical safety research with substantive engagement with the regulatory and political systems that will shape how AI is governed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Jack Clark’s role at Anthropic?
Jack Clark is a co-founder of Anthropic and heads policy. In March 2026, he launched the Anthropic Institute, the company’s dedicated AI policy and governance research division.
What is Import AI?
Import AI is a weekly newsletter founded by Jack Clark covering AI research papers and policy implications. It became one of the most widely read publications in the machine learning community.
Leave a Reply