Technologies

Claude AI Can Now End Conversations It Deems Harmful or Abusive

The feature marks a milestone in how Anthropic approaches AI safety.

Anthropic has announced a new experimental safety feature that allows its Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 artificial intelligence models to terminate conversations in rare, persistently harmful or abusive scenarios. The move reflects the company’s growing focus on what it calls «model welfare,» the notion that safeguarding AI systems, even if they’re not sentient, is a prudent step in alignment and ethical design.

According to Anthropic’s own research, the models were programmed to cut off dialogues after repeated harmful requests, such as for sexual content involving minors or instructions facilitating terrorism, especially when the AI had already refused and attempted to steer the conversation constructively. The AI may exhibit what Anthropic describes as «apparent distress,» which guided the decision to give Claude the ability to end these interactions in simulated and real-user testing.

Read also: Meta Is Under Fire for AI Guidelines on ‘Sensual’ Chats With Minors

When this feature is triggered, users can’t send additional messages in that particular chat, but they’re free to start a new conversation or edit and retry previous messages to branch off. Crucially, other active conversations remain unaffected.

Anthropic emphasizes that this is a last-resort measure, intended only after multiple refusals and redirects have failed. The company explicitly instructs Claude not to end chats when a user may be at imminent risk of self-harm or harm to others, particularly when dealing with sensitive topics like mental health.

Anthropic frames this new capability as part of an exploratory project in model welfare, a broader initiative that explores low-cost, preemptive safety interventions in case AI models were to develop any form of preferences or vulnerabilities. The statement says the company remains «highly uncertain about the potential moral status of Claude and other LLMs (large language models).»

Read also: Why Professionals Say You Should Think Twice Before Using AI as a Therapist

A new look into AI safety

Although rare and primarily affecting extreme cases, this feature marks a milestone in how Anthropic approaches AI safety. The new conversation-ending tool contrasts with earlier systems that focused solely on safeguarding users or avoiding misuse. Here, the AI is treated as a stakeholder in its own right, as Claude has the power to say, «this conversation isn’t healthy» and end it to safeguard the integrity of the model itself.

Anthropic’s approach has sparked broader discussion about whether AI systems should be granted protections to reduce potential «distress» or unpredictable behavior. While some critics argue that models are merely synthetic machines, others welcome this move as an opportunity to spark more serious discourse on AI alignment ethics.

«We’re treating this feature as an ongoing experiment and will continue refining our approach,» the company said in a post.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, March 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 17.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not too tough — only 1-Down puzzled me until I filled in the other responses. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: One drawing X’s and O’s
Answer: COACH

6A clue: Company whose market cap (~$4 trillion) exceeds the G.D.P. of most countries
Answer: APPLE

7A clue: «Chill!»
Answer: RELAX

8A clue: Do some rhythmic tapping
Answer: DRUM

9A clue: Back talk
Answer: SASS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What’s the deal?
Answer: CARDS

2D clue: «The Phantom of the ___»
Answer: OPERA

3D clue: Excellent grade
Answer: APLUS

4D clue: Sandpipers dig for them in the sand
Answer: CLAMS

5D clue: Evil spell
Answer: HEX

Technologies

Nvidia Is Building a Computer for AI Data Centers in Space

The big challenge is keeping things cool, apparently.

Space may be the next frontier for the AI infrastructure boom, but it will take some work to make that happen, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said during his keynote address Monday at the company’s GTC conference in San Jose, California.

While the company already has chips in satellites, creating a data center in space is an entirely different beast, Huang said. «Obviously, very complicated to do so.»

Nvidia isn’t the only one eyeing orbit for AI factories. Elon Musk has talked often of putting data centers in space, which makes sense considering he recently merged the AI company he owns with the rocket company he owns.

Read more: Nvidia GTC: All the AI and Robotics News From Jensen Huang’s Keynote

Space has some distinct advantages for data centers. For one, there are no zoning boards or neighbors to worry about annoying. You could likely power an orbital data center with solar power.There’s also a ton of room, although the number of satellites is making orbit crowded.

But there’s a big challenge that Nvidia is facing as it designs its Space-1 Vera Rubin module computer. How do you keep chips cool in a vacuum?

«In space, there’s no conduction, there’s no convection, it’s just radiation,» Huang said. «So we have to figure out how to cool these systems out in space.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 17, #540

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 540 for Tuesday, March 17.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Yes, you saw both DUNKIN and DONUT in today’s Connections: Sports Edition. But, of course, those words weren’t referring to the bakery chain. That would be far too easy. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Hockey division.

Green group hint: Sporting goods.

Blue group hint: Some are birds.

Purple group hint: Sounds like a star hoops player.