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Anthropic Pledges 5% Shares to Public Benefit Fund

· Confirmed

Technology Desk

In Short: Anthropic also pledged that 80% of its wealth will be donated, and the fund's worth could increase as the company's shares grow in value.

Anthropic logo
Photo: Anthropic / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Anthropic has committed 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund, aiming to address societal impacts of AI, including labor market disruptions.

The company, which is preparing for a potential blockbuster IPO, said the fund will enable donations to nonprofits and direct distributions to specific populations.

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Critics have argued that the arrangement could lead to conflicts of interest, but Anthropic maintains that sharing information publicly could benefit malicious actors or competitors.

The company has also granted external evaluators 'employee-like access' to assess the risks of its models, following through on a commitment to increase safeguards.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said, 'We want to be publicly accountable for the decisions we’re making. But we can’t publicly share all the information relevant to our safety work.'

The fund will be structured as a wholly owned limited liability company, not as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and will have increased flexibility and scale to support projects for societal good.

The company is also under pressure to reassure investors that safety issues will not overshadow its IPO, expected this year at a more than $2tn valuation.

Anthropic said it will allocate an additional 2% of its stock at the board's discretion for every 50% increase in the company's value above a set baseline.

The company's commitment to the public benefit fund is part of its broader strategy to balance financial goals and social impact, as it prepares for a potential IPO.

Anthropic's move comes as the company faces increasing scrutiny over the potential risks of AI technology.

The company has also pledged to explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations through the fund.

Anthropic said it is embedding evaluators voluntarily and believes every frontier AI company should do the same.

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