Glossary · Rule layers and human rights
Model specification (AI)
Also known as: Model Spec, Model constitution, AI constitution (provider document)
A model specification is a document in which an AI provider describes how its models are intended to behave — their values, priorities, limits and how they resolve conflicting instructions — and which the provider uses in training and evaluation; examples are OpenAI's Model Spec and Anthropic's constitution for Claude.
- AI regulation
- AI
In one sentence
A model specification describes how a provider wants its models to behave. Called “Model Spec” or “constitution”, it is a company document, not law.
Example
Anthropic's constitution for Claude (January 2026) is “written with Claude as its primary audience” and used in training; it binds no user and no public authority.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
- Provider rules, national law, EU law and human rights: who sets the rules for AIWhich texts govern what an AI system may say and do — and whom does each of them bind?UKDeutsch
- Claims about AI consciousness: four questions that get mergedWhich different questions hide behind a sentence such as "the AI is not conscious"?UKDeutsch
How it applies
- Addressee and force: A model specification addresses the model and the provider's own teams. It takes effect through training data, evaluations and product decisions. It binds no user, no customer and no public authority; users are bound by the provider usage policy.
- The word “constitution”: Anthropic explains that it does not intend the term to imply a rigid legal document; it means what “constitutes” Claude. Inside the document, a “principle of final constitutional authority” gives it precedence over Anthropic's other guidelines. That precedence is internal to the provider; it is not a ranking in any legal order (see constitution (law)).
- Law sets the frame: OpenAI's Model Spec tells the model to operate within applicable legal constraints. A specification can be stricter than the law; it cannot change what the law requires of the provider.
- Evidence: Statements a model makes about itself are shaped by its specification. A specification is a design decision, not evidence about what a system is, and a test that measures adherence to it measures conformity to the rule, not the truth of its premise.
- For documentation: Cite a specification with provider, title, version and date, and label it as a provider rule.