Anthropic to give 5% stake to public benefit fund, citing AI job disruption

Anthropic, which is preparing for an initial public offering, plans to contribute a 5% stake in the company to a newly created public benefit fund. Combined with existing pledges, roughly 20% of its equity will be directed toward public purposes.

The AI company announced Sunday (local time) on its official blog that it would transfer a 5% stake to the "Anthropic Public Benefit Fund," subject to shareholder approval.

The board will also have discretion to transfer an additional 2% stake each time the company's valuation rises 50% above a set benchmark — meaning the share dedicated to public benefit will grow alongside the company.

Anthropic said the fund could be used for large-scale donations to nonprofit organizations or direct distributions to specific groups, citing the impact of AI on the labor market as a prime example. "AI can create enormous economic value, but it may also bring instability to many workers," the company said. "Given the pace of AI development, a bolder approach may be needed."

Anthropic had earlier pledged $200 million toward research into AI's effects on the labor market and efforts to address them; the new fund is intended to expand on that commitment. The fund will be established as a limited liability company wholly owned by Anthropic. The company said the equity held by the fund would not be used for lobbying or political contributions in the United States or abroad.

"Technology companies often give increasing compensation to executives, but we are instead directing that equity toward the public good," Anthropic said. When combined with co-founders' pledges to donate 80% of their shares and an employee equity-donation matching program, roughly 20% of the company's total equity will be committed to public purposes.

Anthropic is preparing what would be the largest IPO in history for a public benefit corporation. Details on the fund's governance structure and the valuation benchmarks that would trigger additional equity transfers are expected to be disclosed within the next few months.