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Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic says its new AI model can work for nearly seven hours in a row, in another sign that AI could soon handle full shifts of work now done by humans. The new model could bring AI one step closer to replacing jobs as tech giants race to build ever more powerful artificial intelligence. It could represent a shift in how people use AI at work, moving from asking digital agents to accomplish individual tasks to giving these tools a broader objective – similar to the way one might instruct an employee or coworker. Anthropic, which counts Amazon and Google among its backers, introduced its new Opus 4 model on Thursday, along with another model for general use named Claude Sonnet 4. The new model can handle larger, more complex projects, for about a full workday operating independently, without additional prompts from a human. While that’s not exactly a one-to-one match for the kind of workday a human might have, switching among projects or tasks, it’s still a significant advance. Anthropic says the assistant could be a tool for automating mundane aspects of the workday rather than eliminating roles. “It’s like the kind of thing that is challenging that, you know, might represent 30% of your day, that isn’t necessarily fulfilling or professionally expanding you, but is necessary in the pursuit of being successful in your job,” said Scott White, Anthropic’s product lead for the company’s AI assistant Claude.ai. White provided an example of a marketer who wants to analyze previous performance to develop a new advertising strategy. Claude Opus 4 would be able to analyze the current strategy, look through the company’s Facebook and Google ads to assess their performance, notice the difference between the two campaigns and then offer suggestions as to why they may have performed differently. “It’s basically the ability for Claude to think and reason deeply over a long period of time about your goal, while also using a set of tools with its reasoning capabilities to look at problems from new angles and continue moving the task forward,” he said. Anthropic’s model arrives as more companies are investing in AI. A survey from venture capital firm Menlo Ventures – also an Anthropic investor – found that enterprise spending on generative AI, the type of AI that can create content and powers services like ChatGPT and Claude, grew sixfold in 2024 compared to 2023. That report also indicated Anthropic doubled its reach, eating into OpenAI’s dominant position in the market for AI’s business services. McKinsey & Company reported that 92% of companies plan to increase investments in generative AI over the next three years. And Anthropic is far from the only one looking to cash in. Google on Tuesday announced that its autonomous coding tool, Jules, will be available to the public, while Microsoft introduced a more advanced coding assistant for its Github development platform on Monday. Apple is reportedly working with Anthropic on a new tool that can write and test code, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, experts increasingly say AI could lead to job losses. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, released earlier this year, found that 41% of employers plan to downsize as generative AI plays a bigger role in work-related tasks. Aneesh Raman, the chief economic opportunity officer at LinkedIn, recently fretted about AI replacing some entry level jobs in a New York Times op-ed. Anthropic’s White thinks AI will make it easier for people to grow their careers outside their formal educations, such as an engineer using AI to design a visual mockup without any design training. However, he acknowledged the need to address the issue of AI’s impact on the workforce. “It’s not also something that only Anthropic can take a perspective on,” he said. “This is something that the government, policy makers, many companies, need to work together to understand the arc of how this is going to be implemented.”
