May 28 (Reuters) - Anthropic has appointed Netflix ( NFLX ) co-founder Reed Hastings to

the board of directors, the artificial intelligence startup said on Wednesday.

Hastings, 64, is also a board member at Bloomberg. He has previously held director positions

at Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Facebook, and served as the CEO of Netflix ( NFLX ) for 25 years.

"Anthropic is very optimistic about the AI benefits for humanity, but is also very aware of

the economic, social, and safety challenges. I'm joining Anthropic's board because I believe in

their approach to AI development, and to help humanity progress," Hastings said.

At Anthropic, Hastings will help the company navigate its rapid growth while maintaining its

commitment to safety and minimizing AI's potential negative impacts on society.

Hastings co-founded Netflix ( NFLX ) in 1997 and transformed from a fledgling DVD mail-order service

into a global streaming platform.

He recently contributed $50 million to Bowdoin College to establish an AI and Humanity

research initiative, focusing on AI's impact on work, relationships and education.

In addition to Hastings, the board includes Daniela Amodei, her brother and Anthropic's CEO

Dario Amodei, investor Yasmin Razavi, and Confluent CEO Jay Kreps.