Anthropic will commit 5% of its shares to a fund that will make donations for the public good, the BBC reported on Sunday. The announcement comes as the artificial intelligence firm prepares for a potential stock market listing that could value it at more than $1tn.
The Public Benefit Fund could support nonprofit organisations and efforts to address AI's impact on the jobs market, Anthropic said in a statement. None of the shares held by the fund would be used for lobbying or political donations in the US or overseas. The fund could receive another 2% of the firm's shares at the board's discretion.
Last week, Anthropic told prospective investors that its revenue surged by 45% to $16.8bn in the three months to the end of September. In its initial public offering filing, the Claude developer reportedly said that AI could pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.
Research by the International Monetary Fund published in 2024 suggested that almost 40% of jobs around the world will be affected by AI, with that figure rising as high as 60% in advanced economies. Companies around the world, primarily technology firms, have cut thousands of jobs after investing in AI, with many pointing to higher efficiencies from its adoption.
In September, a researcher who quit Anthropic said people working on the technology were genuinely frightened about the speed of its advancements. Jacob Coxon, 27, told the BBC he believed that if development did not slow down at the current rate of progress, there was a strong chance humanity could all die in the immediate future.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump and the heads of major AI firms signed a morally binding document making them responsible for ensuring the safety of their own technology. Trump has repeatedly rejected the idea of laws to control development of the technology despite a debate about the potential risks of AI. Since then, the president has named the director of national intelligence Jay Clayton as the head of a new taskforce on AI which, he said, will co-ordinate government engagement with consumers, companies and religious organisations.
Why it matters for wealth
The governance structure Anthropic adopts ahead of its IPO could influence how institutional and high-net-worth investors assess the firm's long-term risk profile. The commitment of equity to a public benefit fund, alongside reported warnings about existential risks in the IPO filing, may shape due diligence and valuation discussions.
Source: BBC News
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