Anthropic commits up to 20% of shares to public benefit fund

We’re committing a portion of Anthropic’s shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new wholly owned entity dedicated entirely to the public benefit. It will start off with 5% of our shares. For every 50% increase in the company’s value over a set baseline, we can contribute up to an extra 2%, subject to our board’s discretion. In total, this means that roughly 20% of Anthropic’s shares are committed to the public good. Our co-founders have already pledged to donate 80% of their equity, and around half our employees are donating a portion of their equity as part of a donation matching program we’ve run since our founding. In the post below, we share more details about our new fund.

SITUATION DETECTED: Anthropic has announced the new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund to explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or "direct distributions to specific populations", and stated that 20% of the company's shares will be dedicated to the public good.

The most significant line for me is "direct distributions to specific populations." It sounds to me like they are planning their own form of self-directed global UBI. About half of Anth employees are also donating shares into this fund. They foresee a transformative future.