Anthropic is setting up public benefit fund to prepare for the instability AI could bring in future

Anthropic is setting up a public trust fund. Named Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, this fund will be responsible for supporting projects for societal good at a time when many are worried over AI's impact. To start things off, the company says it is committing 5 per cent of its shares towards the funds, with a structure that would increase this number as Anthropic’s valuation grows.According to Anthropic, the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund is a wholly owned entity within the company. While the fund gets 5 per cent of shares of the company at first, it will gain an additional 2 per cent for every 50 per cent increase in the company’s value above a baseline that has not been disclosed. Do note that this is subject to stakeholder approval.Anthropic is preparing for an IPO before the end of this year, potentially at a $2 trillion valuation. After its latest funding round in May this year, the Claude maker reached a market cap of $965 billion. Anthropic said none of the equity held by the fund would be used for lobbying or political donations in the US or elsewhere. Anthropic announced the creation of the fund on X. Together with the new commitment, Anthropic says, roughly 20 per cent of its shares will be dedicated to public benefit, excluding possible additions tied to valuation milestones. What will Anthropic’s public fund do?In a blog post, Anthropic highlighted that the company – as a public benefit corporation (PBC) – was already focused on developing frontier models responsibly. The Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, meanwhile, is said to take things further.“The Anthropic Public Benefit Fund will have increased flexibility and scale, enabling us to pursue our mission in new ways: for example, we might explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations,” the company said. The fund could also support efforts to study and address job disruption and displacement caused by AI. Anthropic stated that it had already committed $200 million to the issue. “AI may generate enormous economic value, but it could also cause instability for many workers,” it said. “Given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed. The Fund will have the versatility to pursue them.” The company added that it would disclose details about the fund’s governance and valuation milestones in the coming months.The announcement comes amid concerns about AI’s impact on employment and growing public distrust of the industry, which Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has described as “fundamentally a crisis of trust.”In recent weeks, there has been growing debate over risks associated with frontier AI models. We have even seen AI agents try to breach websites on the internet, including those of Indian organisations and the US government.Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon has been one of the biggest voices in AI safety. Coxon resigned from Anthropic claiming, “no other human activity poses this level of danger (as AI).” Other researchers from Anthropic and OpenAI have made similar comments, with some suggesting that AI may end humanity within the next decade.Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has pushed for AI regulation, along with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. So far, US companies have signed President Donald Trump’s AI accords, which serves as a voluntary non-binding agreement on frontier AI development.- Ends