Anthropic has brought on the co-founders and most of the staff from Humanloop, a UK-based company specializing in prompt management, LLM evaluation, and AI observability.
Highlights
- Strategic Acqui-Hire: Anthropic has hired the co-founders and most staff from UK-based Humanloop, focusing on team expertise rather than assets or IP.
- Enterprise AI Focus: Humanloop’s skills in prompt management, LLM evaluation, and AI observability align with Anthropic’s safety, compliance, and enterprise priorities.
- Proven Track Record: Humanloop’s tools have been used by companies like Duolingo, Gusto, and Vanta for safe and reliable AI application development.
- Government Market Expansion: The hire comes as Anthropic pushes into enterprise and government sectors, offering features like longer context windows and competitive pricing for U.S. agencies.
- European Talent Pipeline: The move reflects a growing trend of U.S. AI firms sourcing specialized talent from Europe through acqui-hires.
- Competitive Talent Race: This addition strengthens Anthropic’s position against rivals like OpenAI and Google DeepMind in the race for safety-focused AI expertise.
As we know, Anthropic wants to strengthen its enterprise offerings, particularly in AI safety, evaluation, and compliance.
While financial terms were not disclosed, the arrangement reflects a growing trend of “acqui-hires” in the AI sector—transactions focused on securing skilled teams rather than acquiring products or intellectual property.
Talent Over Assets
Humanloop’s three co-founders — CEO Raza Habib, CTO Peter Hayes, and CPO Jordan Burgess — along with about a dozen engineers and researchers, will now join Anthropic.
A company spokesperson confirmed that Humanloop’s assets and IP were not part of the deal, but emphasized the value of the team’s expertise.
“Their proven experience in AI tooling and evaluation will be invaluable as we continue to advance our work in AI safety and building useful AI systems,” said Brad Abrams, API product lead at Anthropic.
Founded in 2020 as a University College London spinout, Humanloop quickly built a reputation for enterprise-grade AI tooling.
The company participated in Y Combinator, joined the Fuse Incubator, and raised $7.91 million in seed funding from investors including YC and Index Ventures.
Its tools have been used by customers such as Duolingo, Gusto, and Vanta to develop and refine AI applications with built-in safety and reliability measures. Last month, Humanloop announced it would shut down operations ahead of the team’s transition to Anthropic.
Strategic Fit for Enterprise and Government AI
The timing of the hire coincides with Anthropic’s rapid expansion into enterprise and government markets.
Recent moves include introducing longer context windows for enterprise clients and securing a deal with the U.S. government’s central purchasing body to offer AI services to agencies for $1 per agency in the first year — a pricing approach that undercuts OpenAI.
Enterprise and government buyers often prioritize features such as evaluation, monitoring, and compliance — areas in which Humanloop has established proven workflows.
Humanloop’s tools were designed to integrate performance measurement, bias mitigation, and guardrails into AI development from the outset, closely aligning with Anthropic’s “safety-first” philosophy.
“From our earliest days, we’ve been focused on creating tools that help developers build AI applications safely and effectively,” said Habib. “Anthropic’s commitment to AI safety research and responsible AI development perfectly aligns with our vision.”
Global Talent Sourcing
This hire highlights a broader shift in AI hiring patterns, with U.S.-based firms increasingly turning to European talent pools to strengthen their teams.
In these acqui-hire scenarios, companies bypass full-scale acquisitions and instead focus on integrating experienced teams directly, accelerating product and research capabilities without navigating complex IP transfers.
Currently competitors like OpenAI and Google DeepMind also scaling their enterprise-focused teams, this addition helps Anthropic to better compete in the growing market for AI tools that balance safety, compliance, and scalability.
