Developer Claude Creates Fund to Finance Public Projects
American company Anthropic, developer of the artificial intelligence Claude, announced the creation of a special fund that will finance socially beneficial projects. The company plans to transfer part of its own shares to it, and the size of this share may increase along with the growth of the business value.
Anthropic reported this on October 18 on its official website. The decision was made against the backdrop of the company's preparation for a possible listing on the stock market, reports the BBC.
Anthropic plans to direct 5% of its shares to the new fund, the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. The transfer requires shareholder approval, so for now it is an announced commitment, not a completed transaction.
The company also provided a mechanism for increasing the fund's share. For every 50% increase in Anthropic's value from a defined baseline, the board of directors can additionally transfer another 2% of shares to the fund.
Thus, the volume of resources available for public programs will potentially increase along with the market valuation of the Claude developer. At the same time, additional transfers are not automatic and will depend on management decisions.
The fund is planned to be established as a legal entity, an LLC, wholly owned by Anthropic. Such a structure, as explained by the company, will allow the use of various funding mechanisms — from donations to charitable organizations to direct payments to specific population groups.
One of the possible work areas of the fund will be mitigating the economic consequences of the spread of artificial intelligence. In particular, Anthropic is considering supporting people whose jobs may be threatened by automation.
The company has already announced the allocation of $200 million for research and measures related to the impact of AI on the labor market. The new fund should create additional opportunities for financing larger-scale programs.
Anthropic emphasized that shares owned by the fund will not be used for political donations or lobbying activities in the United States or abroad.
The initiative continues the previous commitments of the founders and employees of the company. When creating Anthropic, its co-founders promised to donate 80% of their personally owned shares to charity. In addition, the company has a program under which Anthropic supplements employees' charitable contributions in the form of shares.
According to the company's estimate, taking into account all announced commitments, approximately 20% of its shares will be designated for socially beneficial purposes. This figure covers various programs and does not mean that the entire package will go to the new fund.
The announcement came on the eve of Anthropic's expected IPO. The company is preparing for a possible share placement on the stock exchange that could become one of the largest in the history of the technology sector. The final parameters of the placement and the future market valuation remain uncertain.
In the coming months, Anthropic promises to disclose additional details about the management of the fund, conditions for increasing its share, and control over the use of funds.
