Ahead of massive IPOs, AI companies are sketching plans to share their wealth

NEW YORK (AP) — As they prepare for huge stock market listings, leading artificial intelligence companies are beginning to make plans to share their wealth with the public. They say this is necessary to help people deal with the changes AI could bring to jobs and their ability to earn a living.

Leaders at Anthropic and OpenAI have long said that AI will bring many benefits to ordinary people. They have also promised that people will share in the profits. The companies are considering different ways to distribute the money AI creates. But important questions remain about how the plans would work, how openly the companies would share information, and who would decide who receives the money.

On Sunday, Anthropic said it would set aside 5% of its shares for a new group within the company called the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, if shareholders approve. The amount could grow as the company grows. The maker of the AI assistant Claude said the fund might consider making larger donations to established nonprofit groups or giving money directly to specific groups of people.

The San Francisco-based company shared few details about which organizations the fund might support or which problems it would work on. Anthropic said the fund would not support lobbying or political donations.

Phil Buchanan, president of The Center for Effective Philanthropy, said he welcomed Anthropic's promise, especially at a time when he said some billionaires are making philanthropy seem less important. But he warned Anthropic not to make the same mistake as earlier technology leaders who wrongly assumed that being good at business also made them experts at giving money wisely.

Buchanan recommended that the fund support existing nonprofit groups that have shown they do effective work. But he said it was difficult to judge the plan because it was still unclear what it would involve.

“I guess I’m hopeful,” Buchanan said, “but I’m not going to get too excited until I see some evidence of what’s actually happening.”

Anthropic's promise depends on its plans for going public

Anthropic was valued at close to $1 trillion earlier this year. It is preparing to sell shares to the public as soon as next month. The planned stock market listing could be one of the largest ever.

Once a company is publicly traded, it could make donations by selling shares in the future or by using cash dividends, explained Jay R. Ritter, director of The IPO Initiative at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business. It is not yet clear exactly how Anthropic will make charitable donations through its fund.

Even so, Ritter said making the announcement now helps potential investors understand what they are buying when they purchase shares.

Anthropic has already promised $200 million to study AI's effects on the economy more broadly. Anthropic said that, together with Sunday's announcement, about 20% of its shares would be set aside for the public good. That share could grow further if the company's value reaches certain targets.

When Anthropic announced the fund, it pointed to the effects of AI on jobs as one example of the issues it might support.

“AI may generate enormous economic value, but it could also cause instability for many workers,” Anthropic said in a blog post on Sunday. The company said the fund would be flexible enough to try stronger or more unusual approaches if needed to reduce these problems. Anthropic said it would provide more information about how the fund is organized and managed in the coming months.

In a May interview with The Associated Press, Anthropic president Daniela Amodei said she expected the company's success to lead to more donations for disease research and efforts to make sure people around the world could share in the wealth that AI might create.

Some critics have questioned the companies' promises.

“Anthropic is playing games here,” Gary Marcus, a longtime AI expert and professor emeritus at New York University, wrote on social media Sunday. He criticized the company for trying to win public support while keeping control and not sharing enough information.

AI companies are considering different ways to share money for public benefit

Anthropic and OpenAI are both set up as public benefit corporations. This type of company must work toward a social good as well as making profits.

The OpenAI Foundation, the nonprofit group that controls OpenAI, promised earlier this year to commit $1 billion to expand its ability to give grants.

Separately, in April, OpenAI proposed creating a “Public Wealth Fund” that would own a share of the economic growth driven by AI across a wider range of companies. OpenAI said the fund could invest in a small number of assets and give the returns directly to people, whether or not they invest in financial markets. OpenAI plans to sell shares to the public next year.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also spoken with lawmakers from both major political parties about giving the public a share of ownership in AI companies.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has generally avoided traditional charitable giving, promised as recently as Monday to donate some shares in his own company.

During the personal computer boom, people such as Michael Dell and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates created private foundations to manage their charitable giving. Today, technology leaders in Silicon Valley, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have instead used limited-liability companies, or LLCs. Anthropic is taking this approach for its public benefit fund.

Experts say an LLC gives its owners more control over how the money is used. Unlike a foundation, an LLC does not have to follow the same rules about spending money. A foundation must give away at least 5% of the value of its funds each year.

“They have a lot more flexibility and latitude in how to use the resources they put into the fund,” said Katherina Rosqueta, founding executive director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy.

Brian Mittendorf, a professor who holds an accounting chair at Ohio State University, said LLCs can support activities beyond traditional charity. For example, they can give money directly to individuals in ways that a 501(c)(3) charity cannot. But if they do not make traditional charitable donations, it becomes harder to judge how the public benefits, he said.

According to Rosqueta and Mittendorf, LLC owners also do not receive the same tax benefits as traditional charities. Anthropic cannot claim an immediate tax deduction for its promise. It can claim a deduction only after the shares are transferred to a public charity. LLCs also have fewer requirements to share information with the public.

Overall, Mittendorf said Anthropic's announcement is a promise to work toward broader goals that have not yet been clearly explained. He said the move shows more of an intention to act in the future than a step that is being taken now.

AP Philanthropy editor Glenn Gamboa contributed from Cleveland, and Grantham-Philips contributed from Chicago.

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