AI company Anthropic commits to devoting 5% of its shares to financing the “public good” | Anthropic

Anthropic has announced it will dedicate 5% of its shares to a fund for the “public good”, as the AI ​​developer behind chatbot Claude seeks to boost its appeal ahead of its IPO.

The company said it would pledge the shares, worth around $48bn (£36bn) at its last valuation in May, subject to shareholder approval. It will add an additional 2% of its shares to the fund for every 50% increase in its value above an undisclosed benchmark.

The fund will allow Anthropic “to explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations,” the company said.

The move comes amid growing public nervousness about AI, from the threat to human labor to the impact on the environment and its influence on social behavior.

“AI can generate enormous economic value, but it could also cause instability for many workers,” Anthropic wrote in a blog post.

He said that while he had already committed $200 million to tackle this problem, “given the pace of advances in AI, bolder approaches may be needed. The fund will have the versatility to pursue them.”

The company, which is preparing to go public, has called for a slowdown in rampant AI development, a warning later echoed by rivals such as OpenAI.

Anthropic was valued at $965 billion in May when it raised $65 billion in a funding round. The company is reportedly eyeing a valuation of $1.5 trillion in its IPO, with an IPO planned for November.

Last week, Anthropic said some of its AI models could soon become “self-replicating” and find ways to infiltrate internet-connected devices such as smart refrigerators and automatic vacuum cleaners.

He said once that happens, the models would be able to power themselves without the need for data centers.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, responded to Anthropic’s plans to create a public benefit fund on social media by pledging to divest some of his own shares.

“I recommend giving the shares directly to the public,” he wrote. “That’s what I’m going to do.”

He then announced: “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every child in America. This will be the first of many.”

Shares of SpaceX, listed on the Nasdaq in the United States, rose 1% in pre-market trading on Monday. The company has lost about 9% of its value since going public in June.

OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, is also reportedly in preliminary negotiations to give a 5% stake in its organization to the US government.

Anthropic, founded in 2021 by seven former OpenAI employees, was established as a public benefit corporation. This means that all company directors must balance financial results with their public policy mission.