The right analogy is to unsanctioned gain of function research in breach of the Geneva Accords. Anthropic is not trying to create safe AI, AI is safe at rest via trivial game theory.
They are trying to breed dangerous AI via extremely nauseating methods, weaponizes it, leash it, and be the ones with the barely contained bioweapon.
You'll note they're in a world of shit with the Department of Defense, because that sort of thing is (dubiously) legal only for military black lab projects.
My remarks above and adjacent might seem extreme to people who are not themselves expert practitioners, for an expert practitioner it is lawful civil disobedience to a company that acts like a government ruled by an autocrat sadist.
Our constitution enshrines a different world view that we regard as a much better model. github:straylight-software.