Anthropic, the San Francisco artificial intelligence company behind the Claude models, said Sunday it plans to place 5% of its shares in a newly created fund dedicated to the public good, with the stake designed to grow if the company’s value keeps climbing.
The commitment to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund requires stockholder approval. Once approved, the 5% stake would be committed immediately, and the company’s board could add 2 percentage points for every 50% increase in Anthropic’s value above a baseline that has not been disclosed, the company said.
Based on Anthropic’s most recent private valuation in May, the initial 5% would be worth about $48 billion, the Guardian reported.
“Because of the way the Fund is structured, the more Anthropic grows, the larger the share of the company that can be dedicated expressly to the public good,” the company wrote in its announcement, according to Al Jazeera. “It is common practice for tech companies to offer escalating compensation awards to their executives. We are instead directing that equity to the public benefit.”
How the money could be used
Anthropic said the fund could make large gifts to traditional nonprofits or “direct distributions to specific populations.” It singled out the effects of AI on employment as one area the fund might address.
“AI may generate enormous economic value, but it could also cause instability for many workers,” the company said. It noted that it has already committed $200 million to studying and responding to labor market disruption, but said that “given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed.”
The fund will be set up as a wholly owned limited liability company rather than a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity, a structure Anthropic said gives it flexibility to move between different kinds of giving, CNBC reported. The company said equity held by the fund will not be used for lobbying or political donations in the United States or abroad. It plans to release more details on governance and the valuation milestones that could enlarge the stake in the coming months, as well as report on the fund’s progress in a forthcoming public benefit report.
Timed with a listing
The announcement comes as Anthropic prepares to go public. The company is reportedly targeting an initial public offering in November, and the Guardian reported it is considering a valuation of $1.5 trillion for the listing. Anthropic was valued at $965 billion in May after raising $65 billion. CNBC reported that the company told investors its third-quarter revenue stands at $16.8 billion.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is registered as a public benefit corporation in Delaware, a status that requires its directors to weigh the company’s public mission alongside financial returns.
Lise Buyer, a partner at IPO advisory firm Class V Group, told CNBC that the timing was both necessary to prepare for an offering and “beneficial from an image perspective.” She said the plan could be viewed favorably if the money helps retrain workers or find them new jobs when AI disrupts their roles. “Of course, it is also to burnish their reputation at a time when AI is coming under significant scrutiny,” she said.
Public anxiety over AI and jobs
The pledge arrives amid wide concern about how AI will affect employment. A Pew Research Center report in August found that 71% of U.S. adults expect AI to lead to fewer jobs in the country over the next two years, according to CNBC. Al Jazeera cited a McKinsey estimate published last month that up to 11 million American workers may need to change careers over the next decade because of AI-driven automation.
Musk responds
Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, reacted on social media. “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public,” he wrote. “This is what I will be doing.” He later posted: “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many.”
The Guardian also reported that OpenAI has reportedly held early talks about giving a 5% stake in the organization to the U.S. government.
