Anthropic Plans Public Benefit Fund Amid IPO Speculation

Anthropic has announced its intention to allocate five percent of its shares to a newly formed “Public Benefit Fund.” However, this initiative will require approval from stockholders before it can be implemented, following the company’s eagerly awaited IPO, which might take place as early as November.

According to CNBC, the fund has the potential to expand over time. The board of Anthropic may decide to add an additional two percentage points for every 50 percent increase in the company’s value from a yet-to-be-revealed baseline, but this would be at the board’s discretion. The company hasn’t specified how high the share in the fund could eventually rise.

This fund will function as a wholly owned limited liability company rather than as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Anthropic has stated that any equity owned by the LLC won’t be used for lobbying or political donations, either within the U.S. or internationally. Further details regarding the fund’s structure and governance, as well as conditions that would lead to increased contributions, will be shared over the coming months, with updates included in an upcoming public benefit report.

Funds could be utilized for various purposes, including donations to nonprofits, direct distributions, or initiatives addressing the implications of AI on the workforce. The company has indicated it might consider making significant donations, framing this as part of a more assertive approach to tackling the societal impacts of AI.

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril, criticized the move, referring to it as “USAID 2.0” in a tweet. He noted that the founders advocate for Effective Altruism (EA) and appear to prioritize a “non-western audience” rather than focusing on Americans.

David Sacks, a former AI czar under Trump, also raised questions about the actual benefit to the public from this share allocation.

The timing of this announcement has caught attention, especially since Anthropic is reportedly preparing for an IPO next month. The company informed investors that its revenue for the third quarter reached $16.8 billion. Lise Buyer from IPO advisory firm Class V Group mentioned that the timing is advantageous for the company’s image, especially as scrutiny around AI increases.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also took a jab at the initiative, suggesting on X that shares should be given directly to the public, following his own plan to distribute SpaceX shares to American children.

Wynton Hall, social media director at Breitbart News, discussed the Effective Altruism movement and its relationship with the AI sector in his bestselling book. He highlighted that some conservative voices perceive the concerns over potential AI job losses as part of a broader influence operation aimed at establishing “Global AI Governance,” which they argue could lead to overreach by bureaucratic and globalist institutions.