Anthropic interviews and AI
Anthropic publishes its own rules for using AI during hiring, and they are more specific than most: different for applications, take-homes, live interviews and preparation. Its engineering team has also written about how it redesigns take-homes as models improve.
Last updated
What is known about the real round
No AI assistance in live interviews or take-home assessments unless told otherwise. Using AI to prepare is encouraged.
Anthropic publishes its guidance for candidates. It asks you to draft your own application and use Claude to refine it, to do take-home work without Claude unless the instructions say otherwise, and to do live interviews without AI assistance unless told otherwise. It encourages using Claude to research the company and practice. A January 2026 post from its performance team describes one take-home, an optimisation task on a simulated accelerator, where AI use is explicitly allowed.
Formats change between hiring cycles. Ask your recruiter what your round will be, and see the policy tracker for other companies.
Format overview
Anthropic's candidate guidance asks you to write the first draft of your application yourself and then use Claude to refine it, to complete take-home assessments without Claude unless told otherwise, and to do live interviews without AI assistance unless told otherwise.
The same page encourages using Claude to research Anthropic, practice your answers and prepare questions for the interviewers.
In January 2026, Tristan Hume of Anthropic's performance team wrote about a take-home in which candidates optimise code for a simulated accelerator. For that take-home, the post says, AI use is explicitly allowed. It describes cutting the time limit from four hours to two and redesigning the task as Claude models began to match strong candidates.
The post also says live interviews are typically around 50 minutes.
What is evaluated
- Your own reasoning in live interviews, without AI assistance (stated by Anthropic).
- On the AI-allowed performance take-home, results on an optimisation problem (described by Anthropic).
Example task types
- Live technical interviews without AI.
- Take-home assessments, AI-free by default, with stated exceptions such as the performance take-home.
What gets scored in practice
Every Placed round ends with a report that scores each rubric criterion from 0 to 10. On Pro, each score comes with the moment in your session it is based on. How grading works.
Where people lose the round
- Assuming a take-home allows AI because the role is at an AI company.
The default is no AI. Use it only where the instructions say you may.
- Not using AI to prepare.
Anthropic encourages using Claude to research the company and practice answers. Use it before the interview, not during.
- Only practicing with tools open.
Spend your practice sessions unaided, out loud, against a clock.
A prep plan: three sessions before the real one
- Do a debugging round with the assistant closed, out loud.
- Sit a hard code review round: finding and ranking real defects by reading alone.
- Run a system design round, where you reason about trade-offs without any tool.
Questions people ask
Can you use AI in an Anthropic interview?
Not in live interviews unless you are told otherwise. Anthropic's candidate guidance says live interviews are without AI assistance, and take-homes are done without Claude unless the instructions say otherwise.
Does Anthropic ever allow AI on a take-home?
Yes, when it says so. Anthropic's performance team wrote in January 2026 that AI use is explicitly allowed on its performance optimisation take-home.
Can I use Claude to prepare for an Anthropic interview?
Yes. Anthropic encourages using Claude to research the company, practice your answers and prepare questions.
Keep going
- The AI-enabled coding interview: how to prepare, with every company guide in one place
- Anthropic practice pack, 4 Placed rounds in order
- Meta's AI-enabled coding round
- Google's code comprehension round
- Canva's AI-assisted coding interview
Sources
Placed is not affiliated with Anthropic. Company names are used to describe publicly reported interview formats.