Anthropic commits 5% of shares to new Public Benefit Fund, with more tied to valuation
Anthropic said on October 18 that, subject to stockholder approval, it will commit 5% of its shares to a new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund structured as a wholly-owned LLC. The company said the board may add another 2% of shares each time its value rises 50% above an undisclosed baseline; combined with co-founder pledges and an employee equity donation match used by about half of staff, roughly 20% of Anthropic shares will be dedicated to the public good. The fund is meant to support large nonprofit donations, direct distributions to specific populations and efforts to address AI's impact on jobs, and none of its equity will be used for lobbying or political giving in the US or abroad. BBC reported the announcement comes as Anthropic lays groundwork for a potential listing that could value it above $1tn, and Elon Musk responded on social media: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public."
Anthropic says roughly 20% of its shares will be dedicated to the public good once co-founder and employee pledges are counted, with details of the fund's governance and valuation milestones promised in the coming months.
Today, we’re committing a portion of Anthropic’s shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund,a new entity with a structure that increases the stake as the company grows. Subject to stockholder approval, 5% of Anthropic’s shares will be committed today, with an additional 2% added at the board’s discretion for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a set baseline.
As a public benefit corporation, most of our work in pursuit of our mission takes place inside the company: research relevant to AI safety and interpretability; applied biomedical research; discounts on Claude for nonprofits and scientific institutions. These activities have both a public benefit component and for-profit value, so we house them directly in the company.
The Anthropic Public Benefit 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.
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