Anthropic has pledged to set aside 5 percent of its shares for a new fund devoted to the public good, and says it will increase that contribution as the value of the artificial intelligence company rises. The maker of the Claude AI assistant announced the move on Sunday.
The “Anthropic Public Benefit Fund” was unveiled at a time when technology firms are under close examination over the possible dangers of frontier AI.
Share commitment and value-linked increases
In a blog post, Anthropic said it is committing 5 percent of company shares with immediate effect, although the move requires stockholder approval. An extra 2 percent could be added at the board’s discretion for every 50 percent increase in the company’s value.
The San Francisco-based firm said that because of how the fund is structured, its growth would expand the share of the company dedicated to the public good. It also said it was redirecting equity that might otherwise go to executives as escalating pay awards.
Possible uses and limits on political spending
Anthropic said the fund could make donations to traditional nonprofits, as well as “direct distributions to specific populations”. It named labour market disruption caused by AI as one of the issues the fund could address.
The company said it had already committed $200 million to studying that problem, but that the pace of AI progress may call for bolder approaches. It said the fund would not be used for lobbying or political donations, in the United States or overseas.
Planned stock listing and job market worries
Anthropic, which is registered as a public benefit corporation in Delaware, was founded in 2021 by former employees of ChatGPT creator OpenAI. It is preparing for what could be the largest public offering in history, and is expected to list on the US stock market before the end of 2026.
Analysts are forecasting a valuation above $2 trillion. The company’s charter requires its leadership to balance shareholder returns with responsible AI development. A McKinsey report published last month estimated that up to 11 million American workers may need to switch careers over the next decade because of AI-driven automation.
