According to The Information, Anthropic is planning to go public in late September, with the prospectus expected to land after Labor Day on September 7. The company will depart from SpaceX's structure by allowing early investors and staff to sell stock in the IPO, unlike SpaceX which gave no such option to backers in June. Anthropic has described supervoting shares for founders, similar to the tool Elon Musk used to hold control, as reported by BeInCrypto. The company is weighing lockups longer than the norm, with insiders taking cash early then waiting longer for a second window.
As reported by Anthropic, the company raised $65 billion in May at a $965 billion valuation. The backers include Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia as lead investors, with sovereign money joining through Singapore's state fund GIC co-leading alongside Capital Group and Coatue. The company reported that its run rate had exceeded $47 billion as of May, though it has not updated this figure since. The prospectus will likely reveal more about Anthropic's valuation and the specific amounts that early backers will sell at.
According to Axios, Anthropic has reportedly introduced a specific question testing candidates' commitment to AI safety over financial gains. The company now asks job candidates what they would do if putting AI safety first eventually caused the company's stock to fall to zero. This question represents a direct test of whether candidates would prioritise the company's mission over potential financial gains, marking a more explicit approach to evaluating values during the hiring process. The question appears to have gained prominence at a time when CEO Dario Amodei recently raised concerns about how some newer employees are joining the company for financial gains rather than the firm's missions.
According to Axios, Anthropic, the company behind Claude AI, operates under a strict no-negotiation policy for both interviews and compensation. The company runs a standard process where the number on your offer letter is the number you sign, with no back and forth, no counteroffers, and no polite haggling over equity. This approach stands out in an AI industry where researchers are reportedly commanding eight-figure packages and switching labs every few months. The policy extends to interviews, where candidates cannot negotiate terms or compensation packages, creating a consistent framework for evaluating candidates across all positions.
As reported by Axios, co-founder Daniela Amodei claims that culture interviews have existed since the very beginning, appearing in a Bain Capital video from two years ago. Dario Amodei himself stands to become extraordinarily wealthy after any public offering, yet he has repeatedly pledged to donate 80% of his wealth. Anthropic's careers page emphasises mission-driven values repeatedly throughout its messaging, with the word 'mission' reportedly appearing six times across this page. Despite the company's reportedly high compensation packages, CEO Dario Amodei has expressed concern that newer hires are coming to Anthropic for the money rather than the mission, a remark that got heavily mocked online. The concern appears to come from the top, with CEO Dario Amodei himself questioning whether newer employees are joining for the right reasons.
