Microsoft Rejects AI Personhood in New Humanist Conduct Code

The code of conduct underscores that people matter more than technology, stipulating that AI should never be designed to imitate consciousness. This stance serves as a pointed rebuttal to rivals like Anthropic, whose leadership has openly speculated that chatbots might already function as thinking, feeling entities. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman previously dismissed such theories as dangerous, positioning his company against the trend of granting models rights or welfare.

Beyond the philosophical divide, the document establishes practical guardrails for development. Microsoft commits to ensuring its systems do not exceed human oversight, a direct response to warnings that technical progress may soon outpace our capacity to verify or control autonomous agents. As the company builds models to compete with Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, it aims to secure its position as a top-tier lab while maintaining a firm boundary between human agency and algorithmic output.