Anthropic has brought in the co-founders and most of the core team from Humanloop, a London-based AI startup.
This is an acqui-hire, not a typical acquisition. Anthropic did not take over Humanloop’s assets or intellectual property.
Instead, it gained the skills and expertise of a team known for building enterprise-ready AI tools. In a fast-moving industry, talent can be more valuable than products.
Why Humanloop
Anthropic is expanding rapidly in the enterprise sector. It is recognized for agentic AI and advanced coding capabilities.
However, performance alone is no longer enough to secure contracts. Enterprises now demand safety, compliance, and reliable monitoring. Humanloop met those needs.
Founded in 2020 as a University College London spinout, the startup built tools for prompt management, large language model (LLM) evaluation, and observability.
Its clients included Duolingo, payroll platform Gusto, and compliance firm Vanta. These tools ensured that AI systems performed consistently, stayed within safety boundaries, and improved through constant evaluation.
As Anthropic’s API product lead, Brad Abrams stated:
“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.”
Enterprise Features
The deal comes at a time when Anthropic is adding features for enterprise users.
One example is the use of longer context windows, which allows models to process larger volumes of information.
The Humanloop team will boost Anthropic’s capacity to offer compliance, monitoring, and evaluation features.
This strategy is designed to compete directly with OpenAI and Google DeepMind by combining model performance with robust safety tools.
Strategic Timing
The acquisition follows another major announcement. Earlier this week, Anthropic signed an agreement with the U.S. government’s central purchasing arm.
The deal allows government agencies across all three branches to use Anthropic’s AI services for just $1 per agency in the first year.
This pricing directly challenges OpenAI, which has a similar deal.
Humanloop’s Path
Humanloop began as an academic project. It joined Y Combinator and the Fuse Incubator before raising nearly $8 million in seed funding from investors including Index Ventures and YC.
Over time, it became a trusted partner for companies building safe and reliable AI systems. In July, the startup told customers it would shut down in preparation for an acquisition.
Now, it will continue its work under Anthropic’s banner. Former CEO Raza Habib expressed optimism about the transition:
“From our earliest days, we’ve been focused on creating tools that help developers build AI applications safely and effectively. Anthropic’s commitment to AI safety research and responsible AI development perfectly aligns with our vision.”
