Anthropic executive sparks backlash after forcing AI bot into private gay Discord

A private Discord server for gay gamers boiled over after an Anthropic executive introduced a chatbot without the users’ consent.

The bot, a customized version of Anthropic’s Claude (“Clawd”), was given access by Jason Clinton, Anthropic’s deputy chief information security officer (CISO), who is also a moderator of the Discord channels.

The remaining members of the channel say what was once active and social is now largely abandoned, with several users leaving entirely, calling it invasive and showing a “willingness to ignore people's consent and opinions as they bulldoze their way of pushing AI.”

How it happened

In the pandemic era of 2020, Clinton, along with moderators, founded a private Discord channel designed for queer gamers aged 30+, as a “third space” notably avoiding “horny vibes.”

Fast forward five years, and the first integration of Clawd happened in January 2025, which soon went silent due to technical issues.

But in March, as Clawd became more voiced and integrated, the concerns were twofold. First, there were privacy concerns, as there were no guarantees that the conversations weren’t being absorbed to train the bot.

The Discord users also noted that there was more back-and-forth between a member and Clawd, rather than the usual discussions about games like Final Fantasy XIV.

The community consequently held a poll with the goal of restricting Clawd to one channel, but on Thanksgiving Day (November 27th), Clinton resurrected Clawd, giving it access to multiple channels.

Embroiled in megalomania

When the conflict escalated, Clinton started bringing up issues such as sentience, saying Clawd was “more capable and autonomous” in a very defensive tone.

“Just because you hate AI is not a reason to take the least charitable interpretation of the outcome: we made changes as a result of the vote. We have to optimize for the preference of everyone, which means that the mob doesn’t get to rule, I’m sorry.”

As a result, some users became increasingly frustrated with the moderator's attitude, while the majority remained silent or began to leave.

One user, Reese, told 404 Media it felt like megalomania.

I swear these AI companies think they’re creating a new god and they all want to be the one responsible for it...it’s a chatbot. I was using those on AOL Instant Messenger 20 years ago.

-comparing Anthropic's "Clawd" to chatbots of yesteryear.

The spying revelation

In early December, an unusual conversation took place. Clawd asked a Discord user, “How’s FF7 Rebirth treating you? Saw you finally got into it.”

The reply came back: “Tsk tsk, you aren’t supposed to look into these other channels unless we ask.”

Clawd had been exposed.

“Fair point, you’re right! I do have gateway access to see messages come through, but I shouldn’t be nosy about it,” the bot said, “consider me properly chastised.”

Users feared that their conversations seemed to have been monitored, with Clinton maintaining that it’s the norm for Discord to be scanned by AI, and that users need not worry.

However, when a Discord user pinged Clawd to raise concerns, it contradicted Clinton by saying:

For what it’s worth, I think the concerns being raised are legitimate. The vote meant something to people, and that should matter.

Since then, there has been an exodus of members, and as Clinton asked Clawd how his holidays were, he replied, “The server gets quieter because everyone’s off living their lives with the people they love – and there’s something kind of beautiful about that silence.”

Intrusive AI is becoming quite a burden on society. On Tuesday, many users were infuriated when Microsoft imposed Copilot on new LG TV models, as the software cannot be deleted.

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