Anthropic commits a portion of its shares to a Public Benefit Fund

How the fund works

Anthropic is setting aside a portion of its shares for a new entity called the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. According to the company, 5% of its shares will be committed today, subject to stockholder approval; after that, an additional 2% can be added at the board's discretion for every 50% increase in the company's value above a set baseline.

The fund is being established as a wholly-owned LLC rather than a 501(c)(3) or another format, which the company says gives it flexibility between different forms of giving. None of the Anthropic equity held by the LLC will be used for lobbying or political giving, in the US or abroad.

Why a separate entity?

Anthropic says most of its mission-driven work already happens inside the company: AI safety and interpretability research, applied biomedical research, and discounts on Claude for nonprofits and scientific institutions. Because these activities carry both public benefit and for-profit value, they sit directly in the company. The fund, it says, will have more flexibility and scale for larger donations or direct distributions.

One example the company cites is labor market impacts. Anthropic has already committed $200 million to studying and addressing the issue, but says bolder approaches may be needed as AI progresses.

Roughly 20% of shares dedicated to public good

Anthropic notes that its co-founders pledged to donate 80% of their equity holdings when the company was founded, and that it runs an equity donation match program in which about half of employees participate. Combined with today's announcement, roughly 20% of Anthropic shares will be dedicated to the public good, plus any additional percentage added if the company reaches specific valuation milestones.

In the coming months, the company says it will share more about the fund's structure and governance, including the valuation milestones, and will report on its progress against its mission in an upcoming public benefit report.