Who benefits from AI’s wealth? Anthropic sets aside 5% stake for public good

As artificial intelligence reshapes businesses and threatens to disrupt jobs, Anthropic plans to dedicate 5 per cent of its shares to a fund aimed at directing more of its wealth towards the public good.

The company behind Claude, an artificial intelligence assistant, announced the proposed Anthropic Public Benefit Fund on Monday. The fund could support non-profit organisations, direct payments to specific groups and initiatives to address the impact of AI on the labour market.

The initial allocation of 5 per cent of Anthropic’s shares is subject to stockholder approval. The stake could grow as the company’s valuation rises, with its board able to allocate an additional 2 per cent of shares for every 50 per cent increase in the company’s value above a baseline that has yet to be disclosed.

Anthropic said the fund would provide greater flexibility and scale to support public-interest initiatives as the technology develops and its economic impact expands.

How will Anthropic’s public benefit fund work?

Anthropic plans to establish the fund as a wholly owned limited liability company. Unlike a conventional charitable structure, this arrangement is intended to give the company flexibility over how it directs resources towards public benefit.

The fund’s holdings would not be used for lobbying or political contributions in the United States or elsewhere, Anthropic said.

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The company also plans to disclose further details about the fund’s governance, structure and valuation thresholds in the coming months. It will publish a public benefit report outlining its progress towards its broader mission.

The proposed fund comes as Anthropic prepares for a potential initial public offering (IPO). The company operates as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that requires it to consider broader societal interests alongside financial returns for investors.

AI’s impact on jobs in focus

Addressing AI’s potential impact on employment is one of the proposed fund’s key areas of focus. Anthropic has already committed $200 million to studying and addressing labour-market disruption linked to the technology.

Companies across industries have been investing heavily in AI, with several businesses, particularly in the technology sector, citing efficiency gains as they cut jobs. The prospect of AI automating tasks and changing the nature of work has raised concerns about how the economic gains from the technology will be distributed.

International Monetary Fund research indicates that around 40 per cent of jobs globally are exposed to AI, with the share rising to 60 per cent in advanced economies. Such exposure does not necessarily mean that these jobs will disappear, as AI can also complement workers and change how they perform their roles.

Anthropic has positioned itself as a safety-focused AI developer and has warned of potentially severe risks from increasingly powerful AI systems. The new fund could give it another way to respond to the technology’s wider economic and social consequences.

Anthropic’s wider public benefit commitments

The proposed fund builds on existing commitments by Anthropic’s founders and employees. When the company was founded, its co-founders pledged to donate 80 per cent of their equity holdings. Anthropic also operates an employee equity donation-matching programme, in which about half of its employees participate.

Including these commitments and the proposed fund, roughly 20 per cent of Anthropic’s shares would be dedicated to public benefit, excluding any additional shares allocated as the company grows.

The announcement also drew a response from Elon Musk, who runs rival AI company xAI. In a post on X, Musk said he recommended giving the shares directly to the public.

Anthropic’s plan raises a broader question for the AI industry as investment in the technology accelerates: how should the wealth generated by AI be shared, particularly if its adoption also disrupts livelihoods?