Anthropic was founded to answer to humanity. Soon, it will also answer to Wall Street

In 2021, a group of former OpenAI employees established Anthropic with the goal of ensuring the safe development of artificial intelligence. The company, whose name means "relating to humanity," is set to debut on Wall Street later this month in what could be one of the largest initial public offerings in history. However, this move brings up the question of whether a company can prioritize humanity while also satisfying Wall Street's interests.

The IPO marks a significant development in the AI boom and will spotlight how investors view Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot. The stock market debut also signifies a new phase for Anthropic, testing its ability to balance its mission of safe AI development with the pressures of being a publicly traded company.

Anthropic's unique ownership structure aims to help the company adhere to its original goals, balance profit growth with its mission, and prevent potential takeovers. This structure includes a group of trustees with majority control of the board, along with a special class of shares that grant the seven founders the majority of general shareholder voting power.

As a public benefit corporation (PBC), Anthropic is legally obligated to balance shareholders' interests with the company's stated mission, unlike traditional companies that focus on maximizing shareholder value. Anthropic's "tripartite goals" in its S-1 filing include the pecuniary interest of stockholders, the best interest of those affected by its conduct, and the Company Purpose.

The company's founders, who hold 50.1% of the voting rights, ensure that regular shareholders have little influence on operations. This structure mirrors that of other Big Tech firms, such as Meta and SpaceX, where founders retain majority control. Anthropics Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT), set up in 2023, features five experts with no financial stake in the company who have the authority to appoint four board directors.