Microsoft published a 37-page document titled Humanist AI Code of Conduct on September 14, 2026. The policy rejects legal personhood, rights, or welfare status for artificial intelligence models. The company stated it is willing to sacrifice system capabilities and autonomy to ensure human control.
The document was developed over five to six months and is currently open for public feedback for a six-week period. A revised version is expected later in 2026. Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman described the release as a warning shot, while CEO Satya Nadella emphasized that AI must remain under human control.
The policy appears to target Anthropic, a company in which Microsoft has invested approximately $5 billion. Anthropic has been conducting research into whether AI models might possess moral status or experience suffering, which directly contradicts the principles outlined in the new Microsoft code.
Tensions persist as Anthropic researcher Evan Hubinger estimated a greater than 10% chance of human extinction from advanced AI within the next decade. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has previously advocated for slowing down AI development due to catastrophic risk scenarios modeled by the company's safety teams.
