Anthropic flew Swami Sarvapriyananda to US for private Claude training meeting, Vedanta monk's video goes viral

Swami Sarvapriyananda says Anthropic invited him to its San Francisco headquarters for private discussions on training Claude and AI ethics. His video is now going viral on X as the company's outreach to religious thinkers gains attention.

In Short

• Anthropic invited Swami Sarvapriyananda to its San Francisco headquarters
• Religious thinkers and experts discussed AI ethics and Claude's training
• The Vedanta monk warned about AI's impact on jobs, wealth and human judgement

A video of Hindu monk Swami Sarvapriyananda discussing a private meeting with Anthropic has gone viral on social media, months after he first spoke about the visit. The monk said the AI company invited him to its San Francisco headquarters to take part in discussions that involved training Claude, its family of AI models.

Sarvapriyananda, who leads the Vedanta Society of New York, spoke about the meeting during a June 2026 talk at the Unity of Dallas. His comments have gained fresh attention after reports about Anthropic's outreach to religious scholars and thinkers surfaced more widely, including a recent New York Times report on the company's efforts to bring religious and philosophical perspectives into its AI work.

Anthropic invited monk to San Francisco

Sarvapriyananda said Anthropic first contacted him for an online interview. He was then asked if he would travel to the company's headquarters in San Francisco.

He said Anthropic arranged the travel and accommodation for the visit. Once there, he met theologians from different religions, counsellors and mental health professionals. According to the monk, the discussions were aimed at training Claude and examining questions around AI ethics.

Anthropic also showed the participants some of its latest AI developments, Sarvapriyananda said. However, he could not discuss several details because he had signed a non-disclosure agreement.

“Details I cannot give because they have something called an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement,” he said during the talk.

He also said the group discussed AI safety and the possible risks posed by increasingly capable AI systems. Sarvapriyananda recalled Anthropic telling participants that it was concerned about how quickly AI was advancing and that stronger safeguards were needed.

The monk said he was impressed by the company's efforts but was also told that AI development was a race, with another company potentially moving ahead within months.

Why Anthropic turned to religious thinkers

Sarvapriyananda's account comes as Anthropic's wider engagement with religious thinkers has come under the spotlight.

The New York Times reported that Anthropic had been holding private meetings with religious and philosophical figures from several traditions. The discussions included questions about AI ethics, morality and whether advanced AI systems could have consciousness or some form of moral status.

The company has also worked on a constitution for Claude that sets out values intended to guide the model's behaviour. Anthropic has described its broader approach as an effort to make its AI systems behave safely and responsibly.

For Sarvapriyananda, the discussions were also about how society should respond to an AI-driven future. He warned about people increasingly relying on AI for decisions, possible job losses and the concentration of wealth as AI becomes more capable.

His advice was rooted in Vedanta. “Stand your ground as a spiritual seeker,” he told the audience, urging people to remain centred in knowledge, meditation, devotion and service while adapting to the changes brought by AI.

Sarvapriyananda's comments were made in June, but the clip is now circulating widely as Anthropic's unusual effort to consult religious thinkers receives renewed attention online.

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