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R0042/2026-04-01/Q003/H2

Research R0042 — Private AI Motivations
Run 2026-04-01
Query Q003
Hypothesis H2

Statement

Anti-sycophancy work exists at AI model developers and researchers, but no enterprise deploying private AI for business operations has documented sycophancy reduction as a design goal.

Status

Current: Supported

Supporting Evidence

Evidence Summary
SRC01-E01 Anthropic has comprehensive anti-sycophancy program: evaluation since 2022, Petri tool, 70-85% reduction in Claude 4.5
SRC02-E01 AI research firms achieving sycophancy reduction — developer activity
SRC03-E01 Policy framework treats anti-sycophancy as vendor obligation

Contradicting Evidence

Evidence Summary
None No evidence contradicts this characterization

Reasoning

All three sources support H2: anti-sycophancy work is active and significant, but it is concentrated among AI model developers (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek), AI research firms (Cognition Dynamics, AI Innovate per SparkCo), and policy analysts (Georgetown Law). None of these represent enterprises deploying private AI for business operations with anti-sycophancy as a stated design criterion.

Relationship to Other Hypotheses

H2 captures the nuanced reality that H1 (enterprise case exists) overstates and H3 (no anti-sycophancy work anywhere) understates.