# Claude Became the Lead on a Quarter of Anthropic Research Tasks by Ezra Klein > In February 2025, a tiny fraction of the code added to Anthropic's codebase was written by Claude, but by May 2026 it was over eighty percent. Anthropic also categorized the ways its employees were using Claude for R&D work to make better versions of Claude. An employee could use Claude minimally, as an assistant, as an equal collaborator, or give Claude the lead on a task. A year ago, there were basically no examples of Claude being the lead. By August 2026, Anthropic classified Claude as the lead on twenty-six percent of its R&D tasks. > **— Adapted from Ezra Klein**, *The Ezra Klein Show, September 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Timecoded episode recording:** [*The Ezra Klein Show* at 21:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjZ90V_JREk&t=1270s) — recording and precise locator for the source object preserved in this Reminder. - **Additional source:** [Anthropic's When AI Builds Itself report](https://www.anthropic.com/institute/recursive-self-improvement) — primary or contemporaneous material supporting the embedded statement or report. - **Exact source excerpts:** At [21:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjZ90V_JREk&t=1270s), Klein says: “They go on to give some data: In February of 2025, a tiny fraction of the code that got added to Anthropic’s code base was written by Claude, but by May of 2026, it was over 80 percent.” At [21:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjZ90V_JREk&t=1284s), he introduces newer data supplied by Anthropic, describes the progression from minimal use through assistant, equal collaborator and lead, and concludes: “By August of 2026, 26 percent of Anthropic’s R&D tasks had Claude classified as a lead.” - **Reconciled source dossier:** [[research/Why Are We Sprinting Off the AI Cliff - Ezra Klein on Recursive Self-Improvement|Why Are We Sprinting Off the AI Cliff?]] — preserves broadcast order, speaker attribution, editorial conventions and the surrounding argument. - **Editorial treatment:** The poster text is explicitly labeled as an adaptation because the reconciled source object required synthesis beyond bracket-only repair; it must not be represented as verbatim speech. - **Context:** The adaptation combines Anthropic's reported code-production growth with its classification of Claude as the lead on twenty-six percent of R&D tasks. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Cannot Un-Strike the Match|We Cannot Un-Strike the Match]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Anthropic|Anthropic]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Anthropic|Anthropic]] - [[wiki/Claude AI|Claude AI]] - [[wiki/Research Acceleration|Research Acceleration]] - [[wiki/AI Research Automation|AI Research Automation]] ## Share on Social Media ``` In February 2025, a tiny fraction of the code added to Anthropic's codebase was written by Claude, but by May 2026 it was over eighty percent. Anthropic also categorized the ways its employees were using Claude for R&D work to make better versions of Claude. An employee could use Claude minimally, as an assistant, as an equal collaborator, or give Claude the lead on a task. A year ago, there were basically no examples of Claude being the lead. By August 2026, Anthropic classified Claude as the lead on twenty-six percent of its R&D tasks. — Adapted from Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show, September 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-ezra-klein-claude-lead-quarter-anthropic-research-tasks ```