Anthropic announced Sunday that it plans to commit 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund, with the stake potentially increasing as the company’s valuation rises.
Subject to shareholder approval, the fund would immediately commit 5% of Anthropic’s shares, with the board adding, at its discretion, an additional 2% for each 50% increase in the company’s value above a set benchmark that has not yet been disclosed.
Anthropic said that although the company has already committed $200 million to study the effects of AI, “given the pace of advances in AI, bolder approaches may be needed.”
The fund could be used to “explore significant donations” — including to traditional nonprofits or in the form of direct distributions for specific populations — or for “bolder approaches” to studying and addressing job disruption and displacement caused by AI, the company said.
An August Pew Research Center report found that 71% of adults believe AI will lead to a decline in U.S. employment over the next two years.
The fund will be established as a wholly owned limited liability company rather than a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit or other format to accommodate different forms of giving, the release said. Shares held by the LLC will not be used for lobbying or political donations in the United States or internationally, Anthropic said.
Anthropic told investors that its third-quarter revenue was $16.8 billion, ahead of its planned November IPO, CNBC reported.
The timing of Anthropic’s public fund announcement is both mandatory for preparing for an IPO and “beneficial from an image point of view,” especially as AI reshapes the job market, Lise Buyer, partner at IPO consultancy Class V Group, told CNBC.
The buyer said Anthropic’s move could be viewed favorably if the funds supported career retraining or helped workers find other employment when technology disrupts their jobs.
“Of course, it’s also about restoring their reputation at a time when AI is under increased scrutiny,” she added.
Anthropic said it would share more about the structure and governance of the fund in the coming months, including valuation steps that could increase participation. He said he would also share progress with the fund in an upcoming public interest report.
In response to Anthropic’s announcement, Tesla And EspaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X that he “recommend(s) giving the shares directly to the public.”
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