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Anthropic commits 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund
Anthropic announced a public benefit fund and will commit 5% of its shares to it, with up to 2% more for every 50% rise in its value. The fund will sit as a wholly-owned entity within the company and could back nonprofits or make direct distributions, including work on AI's effect on jobs.
Key points
- Anthropic will commit 5% of its shares to a wholly-owned public benefit fund.
- It may add 2% more for every 50% increase in the company's value.
- Governance details, including who picks beneficiaries, will be shared in the coming months.
What happened: Anthropic announced it is creating a public benefit fund and will commit 5% of its shares to it, TechCrunch reported. The company said the fund will give it "increased flexibility and scale" to support projects for societal good. It will be structured as a wholly-owned entity within Anthropic.
The details: Anthropic may contribute an additional 2% of its shares for every 50% increase in its value. The company outlined broad ideas for how the money could be used, including large donations to traditional nonprofits and direct distributions to specific populations. It also pointed to the effect AI may have on jobs, noting it has already committed $200 million to study that issue. "Given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed. The Fund will have the versatility to pursue them," the company said.
Background: The announcement comes as the AI industry faces growing negative public sentiment. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has described that backlash as "fundamentally a crisis of trust." The current dollar value of the committed shares was not reported.
What to watch: Anthropic said it will share more about the fund's structure and governance in the coming months, including who decides which public benefits receive support. Until then, it is not clear how quickly money will be distributed or which programs will be first in line.
Our take
Teams weighing AI vendors on trust and long-term commitments now have a concrete, if still undefined, pledge from Anthropic to watch as governance details arrive.