Anthropic Commits 5% of Its Stock to New 'Public Benefit' Fund
Key Takeaways
- •Anthropic is dedicating 5% of its shares to a newly formed Public Benefit Fund whose value will track the company's stock price rather than a fixed cash amount.
- •The company says the fund could support large gifts to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations, with AI-related labor market disruption cited as one possible focus.
- •The new vehicle represents a shift from Anthropic's earlier giving approach, which centered on a $200 million commitment to studying the effects of artificial intelligence.
- •Combined with an existing employee equity-match program involving about half the workforce, roughly 20% of Anthropic's shares are now committed to the public good, with additional percentages possible at valuation milestones.
- •Anthropic, a San Francisco-based developer of the Claude AI models founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, is preparing an initial public offering that could arrive as soon as November.
Anthropic said Sunday it is committing 5% of its shares to a new "public benefit" fund, a pool whose worth could grow as the artificial intelligence company's shares increase in value.
The shares will go to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a newly created entity within the company. Unlike a typical cash donation, the fund holds no fixed dollar amount: its resources will track the value of Anthropic's shares.
In a blog post, Anthropic said the fund "will have increased flexibility and scale, enabling us to pursue our mission in new ways: for example, we might explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations."
The company cited labor market disruption as one area where that flexibility could matter. While Anthropic has already committed $200 million to study the effects of artificial intelligence, it said that "given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed." Anthropic presented those avenues as possibilities rather than commitments already made, and the approach departs from the company's earlier, study-focused giving.
CEO Dario Amodei and the company's five other cofounders established Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a designation that for-profit companies select to balance financial goals and social impact. The founders have also pledged to donate 80% of their wealth. The new fund extends that balance from the founders' personal pledges to the company's own equity.
Sunday's announcement builds on an existing equity donation match program, in which about half of the company's employees participate, that lets workers pledge equity which Anthropic then matches. Combined with the new commitment, Anthropic said roughly 20% of its shares will be dedicated to the "public good," plus any additional percentage that could be added if the company's valuation reaches specific milestones.
Anthropic, a San Francisco-based developer of the Claude family of AI models founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, is planning a massive initial public offering as soon as November.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
