Because 8 ≈ e², Anthropic's researcher uplift is plausibly >2x

Note: the modeling assumptions and conclusion are Thomas Kwa’s opinion, and others at METR disagree. 1 Also, the math was checked by Claude but not a second human. Introduction Anthropic’s RSI blog post reported that in Q2 2026, Anthropic contributors merged 8× as much code per day as in the 2021-2024 period. What does this imply about the factor by which a researcher’s total effective output increased — the (serial) researcher uplift 2 ? Of course, 8× more code doesn’t mean 8× more research, as coding is o