Anthropic updates Claude usage policy to ban abusive treatment and expand misuse rules

Anthropic is revising its usage policy for the first time in over a year, adding bans on sustained abusive or cruel behavior toward Claude and on deceptive election and propaganda campaigns.

The update also expands weapons restrictions, tightens surveillance bans, and requires a qualified operator able to stop equipment when Claude controls autonomous physical hardware.

Terminating conversations remains the primary enforcement mechanism, and the company did not say whether user bans would follow.