Anthropic to Commit 5% of Its Shares to Public Benefit Fund

Anthropic says it is creating a “public benefit fund” to support projects for societal good. The company says the fund will give it “increased flexibility and scale.”

Anthropic plans to commit 5% of its shares to the fund, which will be a wholly owned entity within the company. It may contribute an additional 2% for every 50% increase in its value.

The company described possible uses including large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations. Anthropic has already committed $200 million to study AI’s potential effects on the job market. It said the fund could pursue bolder approaches as AI progresses, but did not specify what those approaches would be.

Anthropic’s announcement comes amid increasingly negative public sentiment toward the AI industry. CEO Dario Amodei has described that sentiment as “fundamentally a crisis of trust.”

The company said it will share more information about the fund’s structure and governance in the coming months. It has not yet said who will decide which public benefit projects receive funding.