Anthropic has appointed Dr Christopher Stubbs, experimental physicist and former Dean of Science at Harvard University, to its Long-Term Benefit Trust, bringing decades of expertise in scientific research, precision measurement and national security to the organisation’s AI governance efforts.
Stubbs, the Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Harvard, served as the university’s Dean of Science from 2018 to 2024. His appointment comes as artificial intelligence increasingly influences scientific research and raises questions about the responsible development, deployment and long-term societal impact of advanced AI systems.
In 1998, Stubbs was a member of the High-Z Supernova Search Team, which helped discover the accelerating expansion of the universe. The work subsequently earned the team the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. He also served as the inaugural project scientist for what is now the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which began its 10-year survey of the southern sky in June 2025.
Stubbs has more recently examined the challenges of maintaining reproducibility in AI-assisted research, particularly when AI models produce different answers to the same question. He is also a member of JASON, an independent group of scientists that has advised the US government on defence and technology matters since 1960.
“I am honoured to join Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust and to help the company deliver on its public benefit mission,” Stubbs said. He highlighted his daily use of AI tools in research and his experience as an educator in confronting the questions these technologies raise. He also emphasised the importance of ensuring that AI is developed and deployed for the long-term benefit of humanity.
Anthropic Co-founder and President Daniela Amodei said Stubbs’ scientific rigour, intellectual honesty and commitment to evidence-based research would be valuable as AI transforms scientific discovery and research practices.
Anthropic operates as a Public Benefit Corporation, with a structure intended to balance commercial growth with its public benefit mission. The Long-Term Benefit Trust plays a central role in maintaining this balance over time.
The Trust has the authority to appoint a majority of Anthropic’s board of directors, while its trustees advise the board and company leadership on critical decisions, particularly those involving AI risks and societal impacts.
Stubbs’ appointment adds scientific and policy expertise to the Trust as Anthropic continues to address the governance challenges associated with increasingly capable AI systems. His experience in observational cosmology, AI-assisted research and national security is expected to inform deliberations on the responsible development of AI and its long-term implications for society.
