Anthropic says it will put 5% of its shares into a new public benefit fund. It has the option to add another 2% for every 50% increase in its value.
The company’s announcement describes the fund as a wholly owned entity within Anthropic, intended to provide “increased flexibility and scale” for supporting projects for societal good.
There’s no detailed spending plan yet. Instead, Anthropic outlined possible uses, such as “large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations.”
The potential impact of AI on jobs is another concern. Anthropic has already committed $200 million to study it, but said further action might be necessary: “Given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed. The Fund will have the versatility to pursue them.”
The fund’s unveiling also coincides with increasingly negative public sentiment toward the AI industry. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called that backlash “fundamentally a crisis of trust.”
Who gets to choose the projects is still unclear. Anthropic says it will release further details about the fund’s structure and governance in the coming months.
