Anthropic commits 5% of shares to new Public Benefit Fund; ~20% of shares including founder and employee pledges
Anthropic announces a wholly owned Public Benefit Fund starting with 5% of its shares, able to grow by 2% per 50% valuation increase, with roughly 20% of total shares dedicated to public good including founder and employee pledges. Co-founders pledged 80% of their equity; about half of employees donate via a matching program. The LLC fund cannot be used for lobbying or political giving and may fund direct distributions to populations affected by AI's labor market impacts, subject to stockholder approval.
All posts · 13, most important first
- 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. anthropic.com/news/public-be…1,095 likes · 135 reposts
- Confusing phrasing - “this means”… In the blog post that comes after the thing about employee donations and refers to the whole package, not the PBF donation. The first thing does not mean 20% at all@anthropicai: 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. anthropic.com/news/public-be… open on X0 likes · 0 reposts
- 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.
@anthropicai: 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. anthropic.com/news/public-be… open on X169 likes · 14 reposts - None of the Anthropic equity held by the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund 'will be used for lobbying or political giving, in the US or abroad.'
8 likes · 0 reposts - They plan ahead for such matters:
0 likes · 0 reposts - Part of this issue is that a lot of the community doesn't trust them at all to run something like this because they are EA/left-coded, while the left doesn't trust them to run it either because they hate AI. Thorny path for Anth.1 likes · 0 reposts
- It will also ramp: '5% of Anthropic’s shares will be committed today, with an additional 2% added at the board’s discretion for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a set baseline.'1 likes · 0 reposts
- I've mentioned this pledge that the Anthropic founders took to give away 80% of their equity a few times. People are usually skeptical. I know it's difficult to believe, but for the Anth leadership, immense personal wealth is not their primary motivation.
28 likes · 1 reposts - I understand this, however, if the AI labs don't start doing things like this themselves nothing will happen at all.0 likes · 0 reposts
- 'Universal' and 'All population' also means it includes like Chamath and Mark Cuban for example. With Claude running this fund 'specific population' could be potentially be done literally down to the individual level.1 likes · 0 reposts
- 14 likes · 0 reposts
- (The blog post is much clearer)0 likes · 0 reposts
- If they knight me as one of the fund distribution officers, I will remember this post.0 likes · 0 reposts
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