Anthropic commits 5% of shares to new public benefit fund

Anthropic said on Sunday that it will commit a portion of its shares to the newly created Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a structure designed to increase its stake as the company’s valuation grows.

The artificial intelligence company said 5% of its shares will be committed to the fund, pending stockholder approval. An additional 2% will be added at the board’s discretion for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a set baseline.

"As a public benefit corporation, most of our work in pursuit of our mission takes place inside the company: research relevant to AI safety and interpretability; applied biomedical research; discounts on Claude for nonprofits and scientific institutions...The Anthropic Public Benefit Fund will have increased flexibility and scale, enabling us to pursue our mission in new ways," the company said in a statement.

The fund will operate as a wholly-owned limited liability company rather than a traditional nonprofit structure. Anthropic stated that none of the equity held by the fund will be used for lobbying or political giving in the United States or internationally.

The company said the fund will enable it to pursue public benefit activities including large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations. Anthropic cited labor market impacts from AI as one example, noting it has already committed $200 million to studying and addressing this issue.

When Anthropic was founded, its co-founders pledged to donate 80% of their equity holdings. The company also operates an equity donation match program for employees, with approximately half of its workforce participating.

Combined with the new fund, roughly 20% of Anthropic shares will be dedicated to public benefit purposes, plus any additional percentage that could be added if the company reaches specific valuation milestones.

Anthropic said it will share more details about the fund’s structure and governance in the coming months, including the valuation milestones that may increase its stake. The company also plans to release a public benefit report on its progress.