Anthropic commits 5% of its shares to a new Public Benefit Fund
Anthropic said Sunday it is committing 5% of its shares, subject to stockholder approval, to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity whose stake can grow by 2% for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a set baseline. The company has not yet said who will decide how the money is spent.
What it is: The fund will be a wholly owned LLC rather than a 501(c)(3) charity, to give “adjustability between different forms of giving,” Anthropic said in its announcement. The additional 2% stakes would be added at the board’s discretion. None of the equity held by the fund will be used for lobbying or political giving, in the U.S. or abroad, the company said.
What it could pay for: Anthropic said the fund could make “large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations.” It pointed to AI’s effects on the job market, which it has already committed $200 million to study, saying “bolder approaches may be needed,” TechCrunch reported.
The bigger picture: Anthropic said its co-founders pledged at its founding to donate 80% of their equity, and about half of its employees take part in an equity donation match program. Combined with the new fund, roughly 20% of Anthropic shares will be dedicated to the public good, the company said. TechCrunch noted the move comes as the AI industry faces increasingly negative public sentiment, which CEO Dario Amodei has called “fundamentally a crisis of trust.”
What is still unknown: Anthropic said it will share more about the fund’s structure and governance, including the valuation milestones that could add to its stake, in the coming months. It has not published the baseline valuation, and the commitment still needs stockholder approval.