Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI models, said on Sunday, Oct. 18, that it will set aside part of its own stock for a new fund meant to serve the public. If its stockholders approve, 5% of the company's shares would be committed to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund right away. For every 50% rise in Anthropic's value above a set starting point, its board may choose to add another 2% of the company's shares.
Anthropic is already a public benefit corporation, incorporated in Delaware, whose law lets the directors of such a company weigh a stated public purpose alongside stockholders' financial interests. Anthropic says most of its work toward that purpose, such as safety research and discounts on Claude for nonprofits and scientific institutions, happens inside the company. It says the fund will have more freedom and can work on a bigger scale, and that it might explore large donations to established nonprofits or giving directly to specific groups of people.
One area Anthropic names is AI's effect on jobs. Anthropic says AI could cause instability for many workers. It has already committed $200 million to studying and addressing the problem, and says that with AI moving so fast, bolder approaches may be needed. Anthropic is setting up the fund as a company it owns outright, known as a limited liability company, rather than as a tax-exempt charity. Anthropic says that leaves the fund free to move between different kinds of giving, and that none of the shares the fund holds will be used for lobbying or political giving, in the U.S. or abroad.
The company says tech firms often give their executives stock awards that keep growing, and says it is directing that stock to the public instead. Anthropic says that, together with earlier pledges, roughly 20% of its shares would be dedicated to the public good, plus whatever the board may add later. Its co-founders pledged when the company started to donate 80% of their stakes, and about half its employees pledge some of their shares under a program in which Anthropic matches their gifts.
Investors valued Anthropic at $965 billion in May, when it raised $65 billion. At that price, a 5% stake would be worth about $48 billion. That is only a rough guide: Anthropic has not put a dollar figure on the fund, and the stake's worth will rise or fall with the company's value. In June, Anthropic confidentially filed draft paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a possible first sale of its shares to the public, which would let anyone buy its stock. Anthropic has said whether that happens depends on market conditions and other factors.
Anthropic has not said who will manage the fund or decide how its money is spent, what starting value the 2% additions are measured from, or when stockholders will vote. The company says it will share more in the coming months about how the fund is set up and run, including the company values at which more shares may be added.