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AI & Tech Brief: Anthropic's leaked bill
The AI regulation draft is markedly different than what Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei advocated for this summer * Anthropic's leaked draft frontier AI legislation is markedly different than the Federal Aviation Administration model that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed this summer. * Under the Anthropic framework, the labs get to write the standards that they must then comply with. Powerful groups in the AI safety camp are suggesting the government should do so instead. * Anthropic may be trying to curry favor and appear constructive on AI policy with the Trump administration -- after being on the outs for so long. This is Benjamin Guggenheim. Welcome to WP Intelligence's AI & Tech Brief, where we examine the transformative technology of artificial intelligence at the intersection of innovation, policy and power. Get in touch at [email protected] or on Signal at ben_guggenheim.88. The Lead Brief Anthropic's leaked draft legislation deviates in surprising ways from what the company has said in the past regarding frontier regulation. It's also surprising that the AI company is putting its name to and circulating its own legislation in the first place -- the contents of which have opened the floodgates to criticism from both the AI safety camp and the anti-regulation camp close to the Trump administration. "I've never seen someone say 'Hey, this is the Google-branded bill or the Meta-branded bill.' They're subtle," said one person who works in AI policy in Washington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. "They're hopelessly naive on this. You're [putting out] an invitation to just get roasted from the left and the right." What's in the draft legislation: The bill, reported by Politico on Friday, calls on large AI developers to write and comply with their own safety framework describing how the respective companies deal with risks and respond to critical safety incidents. Here are four key takeaways from the text, which differs in some notable ways from the most prominent proposals on frontier AI put forward so far by Reps Lori Trahan (D-Massachusetts) and Jay Obernolte (R-California), as well as by the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, Maria Cantwell (D-Washington): 1. The legislation is no "Federal Aviation Administration" for AI. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a June essay that model AI regulation should be similar to how the FAA sets out minimum standards for plane designs. An FAA-type model reflects a very hands-on approach by the government: The agency not only certifies aircraft model designs but also the factories that build the planes -- and it has significant authorities to revoke certification that planes are airworthy. But in Anthropic's leaked proposal, the frontier developers would write their own safety plan to determine whether models pose unacceptable risks. The plan is legally binding (the AI company is supposed to submit to the Commerce Department an annual statement on how it is complying with its own safety framework), but the framework nonetheless gives significant leeway for the labs themselves to self-regulate. Contrast this with Cantwell's plan, which would have the National Institute of Standards and Technology set standards against which the labs are evaluated. Under Obernolte and Trahan's Frontier Act, labs will write their own plans in accordance with minimum standards outlined by the Commerce Department. "It feels incongruous with Anthropic's otherwise-strong public statements on the need for robust regulation to promote a 'race to the top,'" said Samuel Hammond, the director of AI policy at the Foundation for American Innovation. "I have no inside knowledge, but it feels like an exercise of having an attorney write up an older framework when the conversation -- and Overton window -- has already moved on," Hammond said. The auditing regime: Unlike the Frontier Act -- which would have independent verification organizations (IVOs) for very large AI developers licensed under the Commerce Department -- the Anthropic bill would have auditors registered and rated by Commerce (and AI companies would have to have their guardrails checked by these independent auditors). In other words, under Anthropic's proposed system, the government would have less direct oversight and power over the evaluators, which could arguably be a good or bad thing. If the auditors are too dependent on AI companies for their compensation, for example, critics have warned that companies might want to "audit-shop" and pick auditors that will give them more favorable assessments. 2. The Anthropic proposal potentially sweeps in a larger selection of AI companies. Anthropic's draft bill uses a lower threshold to define a frontier model that would be subjected to these regulations. The draft text says that models that were trained using more than 10 septillion calculations (10 to the power of 25) qualify; the Frontier Act and the California AI transparency and safety AI law, by contrast, use a threshold of 100 septillion (10 to the power of 26). The difference may play into the arguments of the anti-regulation crowd, such as former White House AI czar and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology David Sacks, who has argued that Anthropic wants to create a "regulatory moat" around its business that sinks smaller competitors with compliance costs. "As written, however, it will eventually sweep in most of Silicon Valley, damaging the start-up ecosystem," said Sacks in a social media post responding to the framework, and noting that the definition includes calculations from fine-tuning and modifying models. "In practice, that captures almost all meaningful post-training -- work that is becoming commonplace in the enterprise." It's important to note that several of the draft bill's provisions, such as those pertaining to the safety framework, only apply to large labs with revenue greater than $500 million or expenditures in excess of $1 billion (though reporting requirements also apply to smaller frontier developers). According to AI research firm Epoch AI, several models released in 2024, including those in Google Gemini and Meta Llama families, were trained with between 10 and 50 septillion operations, which falls below California's threshold but above Anthropic's threshold. (The Washington Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.) By contract, Epoch estimates that OpenAI's recent model, GPT-6 Astra, was trained using 940 septillion operations. 3. Under the new bill proposed by Anthropic, the Commerce Department needs to clear a high bar in order to force a pause on frontier AI development. Under the Anthropic bill draft, the Commerce Department must first go to a court and establish by "preponderance of evidence" that the model poses an imminent risk of death or serious injury to more than 50 people or more than $1 billion in property damage. "[The U.S. government] should retain more emergency optionality without having to make an unreasonably detailed affirmative case that predicts whether 50 people will die or 49," said Sneha Revanur, founder and president of AI safety advocacy organization Encode Action, in a social media post. "It's nakedly self-interested for Anthropic to shop around provisions that serve to protect its own wiggle room." On the other hand, it's understandable that Anthropic might want protections from a capricious shutdown of its model after the Trump administration used a legally dubious export-control directive to shut down Anthropic's Fable model earlier this year. Emil Michael, a senior Department of Defense official and a vice chair of Trump's Super Intelligence task force, told the Information Monday that the administration reserves export-control authority to get AI labs to retract their models. Food for thought: The proposal is similar to legislation that was under negotiation between Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) under the auspices of Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz is a China hawk who, along with Sacks, has previously pushed a preemption on state AI laws and favored an extremely light-touch approach to federal AI regulation. "They're so desperate to be seen as constructive," the person who works on AI policy said of Anthropic's federal affairs team. 4. The preemption of state laws is significant enough to draw the ire of AI safety advocates. Currently, Anthropic's draft text would preempt laws governing public disclosure, incident reporting and third-party evaluation. It would not touch other laws governing children's safety and civil rights. As written, however, it's unclear whether the bill would also block states' abilities to shut down models with emergency authorities. "Some of the preemption provisions are remarkably far-reaching and consequential," said Nathan Calvin, general counsel at Encode, in a social media post. "Most outrageously, it has a provision that looks like it intended to stop states from enforcing laws or judicial decrees that 'suspend the development, deployment or internal use of an AI model.'" As I've noted previously, the trade-off in any upcoming AI legislation will be a national standard for some extent of preemption requested by the "accelerationist" camp. I've heard from several Capitol Hill staffers, policy advocates and lobbyists to expect another stab at preemption from that camp in the lame-duck session. "If preemption is included in federal legislation, the trade should be to achieve a nationwide policy that's generally stronger and broader than what can be implemented through individual state legislative provisions," said Anthony Cimino, the head of federal affairs at Anthropic, in a social media post responding to the criticisms. "We've emphasized that any preemption in the AI safety context should be narrow, even scalpel-like." This newsletter is published by WP Intelligence, The Washington Post's subscription service for professionals that provides business, policy and thought leaders with actionable insights. WP Intelligence operates independently from The Washington Post newsroom. Learn more about WP Intelligence.
Exclusive-OpenAI seeks to accelerate fundraising ahead of Anthropic IPO, sources say
NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments before rival Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November, in an unusually fastfundraisingthat could value the ChatGPT maker at over $1.4 trillion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The rapid timetable reflects, in part, a desire to get ahead of Anthropic as the two frontier labs are increasingly tapping in toa similar investor base, the people said, adding that OpenAI wants to capitalize on its recent revenue growth afterlaunching new models. SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-basedMGX and other existing backers of OpenAI are in talks to join the round of about $30 billion, one of the people said. The acceleration underscores how closely the two AI developers are competing for capital as both pursue trillion-dollar price tags, amid growing concern about rising interest rates, significant volatility in technology stocks and rising scrutiny of AI valuations. OpenAI held meetings with long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds last week while Anthropic was hosting its owninvestor day. OpenAI's funding round is expected to move faster than is typical for an offering of its size, the peoplesaid. Investors familiar with the company say OpenAI also needs capital to fund its substantial infrastructure commitments and bolster its balance sheet if a deterioration in the IPO markets further delays its planned 2027 listing. Though there is high demand for the shares of both companies, investors face the challenge of evaluating and allocating capital to two complex, competing offerings within days or weeks of each other. Some investors viewOpenAI's financing push as an effort to lock in capital from funds that might otherwise devote more of their resources to Anthropic's IPO, the people said. OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment.Anthropic and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. TRYING TO HEAD OFF COMPARISONS OpenAI is pitching investorson growth that accelerated after the launch of its GPT-6 Astra model, saying it had reached $50 billion in annualized revenue and expecting that figure to rise to $70 billion by year-end, according to one of the people. OpenAI has also cut prices on its cheaper models, which it saidhas boosted usage, and told investors it can further lower the price of AI models, the person added. Anthropic's annualized revenue reached roughly $65 billion by July, Reuters previously reported. Its quarterly revenuejumped to $16.8 billion in the third quarter from $11.6 billion in the second quarter this year, it told investors, but slowing month-to-month revenue growth has raised concerns among investors about its valuation. OpenAI is seeking to complete the fundraising before Anthropic's financial disclosures give investors a fuller picture of its business and invite comparisons between the two companies, one person said. The disclosures could prompt investors to press OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar for more details about the company's revenue growth and financial outlook, the person added. OpenAI records revenue on a net basis by subtracting partner shares upfront. It has accusedAnthropic of inflating its revenue by counting the full, gross value of contracts sold through third-party cloud providers. Anthropic told Reuters earlier that it follows established accounting practices. "OpenAI could want to set its own valuation and not have to worry about a comp (comparison)," said Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who is not working on the deal and commented on a hypothetical basis. "It's really a two-horse race in terms of being public." OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion in March this year, after a record-breaking $122 billion funding round, including a commitment from Amazon.com, which agreed to invest up to $50 billion in the lab. The Financial Times previously reported some details of OpenAI's potential fundraising. IPO PLANS HIT BY MARKET JITTERS A number of companiespreparing to go public have decided to wait until after Anthropic's planned IPO, wary of competing for investor demand amid market volatility and a pullback in AI stocks, bankers and investors said. Some late-stage companies are also timing private fundraising rounds to avoid coinciding withAnthropic's expected debut, the bankers and investors said. Some existing and prospective Anthropic investors have argued for a valuation closer to$1.5 trillion for its market debut -- instead of the desired $2 trillion -- after the AI startup's third-quarter results fell short of expectations, Reuters reported last week. The reassessment comes amid a choppy market since September, with volatility in oil prices, rising bond yields and growing concerns about AI safety weighing on investor appetite for technology stocks. Investors are also scrutinizing the cost of AI infrastructure, including the debt needed to finance the data centers powering the boom. At the center of the latest concerns is cloud provider CoreWeave, whose shares and debt tumbled last week as investors scrutinized the nearly $50 billion in borrowings used to fund its rapid expansion. The uncertainty has disrupted what had been expected to be a busy autumn for IPOs, with companies reassessing their listing plans amid market volatility and concerns about valuations.Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT, Nvidia-backed Firmus and SoftBank-backed SB Energy have eitherpulled or paused their listings. Nuclear services company Holtec cited a "perfect storm," driven mainly by uncertainty around data-centerdemand, when it pulled its US listing last month. Companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, widely viewed as a proxy for AI-related semiconductor demand, have shed $1.6 trillion in less than two weeks, while AI infrastructure companies have come under particular pressure. (Reporting by Echo Wang and Sabrina Valle in New York and Krystal Hu in San Francisco; Editing by Colin Barr and Matthew Lewis)
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Reportedly Owns 1% Of Anthropic
* Eric Schmidt holds approximately a 1% equity stake in Anthropic PBC after pumping tens of millions of dollars into its Series A round in 2021. * Depending on the upcoming IPO valuation, projected between $1.8 trillion and $2 trillion, Schmidt's fortune could surge to near $80 billion. * Anthropic's anticipated offering is slated to begin marketing by mid-November. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt now owns roughly a 1% equity stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic PBC, Bloomberg reported. Schmidt had pumped tens of millions of dollars into the company's Series A fundraising round back in 2021, when, according to PitchBook data, Anthropic was valued at a modest $461 million. It remains unverified whether Schmidt has liquidated any portion of his initial holdings since that time. Representatives for both Schmidt and Anthropic declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg. Staggering Wealth Projections Anthropic's impending public market debut is poised to unlock monumental fortunes not only for its seven co-founders -- who already command $8 billion apiece -- but also for early institutional and individual backers like Schmidt. Bloomberg reports that private market indicators point toward a fair valuation between $1.8 trillion and $2 trillion for the Claude developer. At the upper limit of that projected range, Anthropic's value would represent an astronomical surge of more than 4,300 times its original Series A valuation. Even if evaluated at Anthropic's more recent private valuation of $965 billion, Bloomberg notes that Schmidt stands to add nearly $10 billion to his existing $57.5 billion net worth. Schmidt's AI Portfolio Schmidt is an established tech investor through entities like Tomorrow Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and his Hillspire family office. While his earlier investments largely targeted consumer internet, financial technology, and standard software, his focus has shifted heavily toward artificial intelligence. Bloomberg reports that Anthropic plans to officially launch initial public offering marketing as early as the week of November 9, with formal trading expected to commence prior to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and no later than year-end. Company insiders told Bloomberg that Anthropic expects to match or surpass SpaceX's (SPCX) record-setting $1.77 trillion public debut in June. Alphabet Inc.(GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN), Nvidia Corp.(NVA), and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) alongside venture funds like Sequoia Capital and Altimeter Capital, fueled Anthropic's $65 billion funding round in May. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was 'bullish' with 'high' message volumes for Anthropic.
OpenAI seeks $1.4 trillion valuation in $30 billion funding push ahead of Anthropic IPO - Tech Startups
OpenAI is racing to raise roughly $30 billion at a valuation exceeding $1.4 trillion before rival Anthropic makes its expected stock market debut in November. The ChatGPT maker is moving to secure investor commitments ahead of what could become one of the biggest IPOs in history, setting up a high-stakes battle between two AI giants competing for the same pool of capital. SoftBank, Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX, and existing OpenAI backers are in discussions to participate in the funding round, Reuters reported Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter. "OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments before rival Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November, in an unusually fast fundraising that could value the ChatGPT maker at over $1.4 trillion," Reuters reported. The timing is no coincidence. Anthropic is preparing for a potential public listing in mid-November, and OpenAI wants to lock in commitments before investors get a closer look at its competitor's financial performance. The fundraising effort comes just seven months after OpenAI secured $122 billion in committed funding at an $852 billion valuation in March. A new valuation exceeding $1.4 trillion would represent an increase of more than 64%, putting the privately held AI company in the same financial league as some of the largest publicly traded technology businesses. The proposed financing remains under discussion, and neither the fundraising amount nor the valuation has been finalized. OpenAI's $50 billion revenue run rate fuels trillion-dollar ambitions Behind OpenAI's aggressive fundraising strategy is an extraordinary claim about its revenue growth. The company has told prospective investors that its annualized revenue reached $50 billion following the release of its GPT-6 Astra model. OpenAI expects that figure to climb to $70 billion by the end of 2026, Reuters reports. Those figures represent annualized revenue based on current business activity, rather than sales already recorded over a full year. OpenAI has been lowering prices for its smaller AI models, a strategy it says has increased usage. The company believes further price reductions could attract more customers and accelerate adoption. At a $1.4 trillion valuation, OpenAI would be valued at approximately 28 times its current reported annualized revenue. Reaching its $70 billion year-end target would bring that multiple down to roughly 20 times, assuming the valuation stays unchanged. Investors are betting that OpenAI can turn its growing customer base into a business that can support the staggering cost of developing and operating advanced AI systems. The company still faces enormous infrastructure obligations. Funding data centers, securing computing capacity, and maintaining increasingly expensive AI models require billions of dollars in continuing investment. The latest fundraising push could strengthen OpenAI's balance sheet ahead of a potential 2027 IPO, particularly if financial market conditions deteriorate. Anthropic's looming IPO puts pressure on OpenAI OpenAI's urgency reflects a deeper struggle for financial dominance in artificial intelligence. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, has emerged as a formidable competitor, particularly among enterprise customers and software developers. The startup's annualized revenue reportedly reached approximately $65 billion in July. Its quarterly revenue climbed from $11.6 billion in the second quarter to $16.8 billion in the third quarter, according to figures shared with investors. Yet Anthropic's growth has not eliminated concerns about its valuation. Some investors have pushed for an IPO valuation closer to $1.5 trillion, below the previously discussed $2 trillion target, following weaker-than-expected third-quarter results and signs of slowing monthly revenue growth. That reassessment creates an unusual opportunity for OpenAI to establish its own valuation before Anthropic begins trading publicly. "OpenAI could want to set its own valuation and not have to worry about a comp (comparison)," Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, told Reuters. "It's really a two-horse race in terms of being public." The companies face another challenge: investors must compare financial results prepared using different revenue accounting approaches. OpenAI reports revenue after deducting certain payments to partners. Anthropic counts the gross value of contracts sold through third-party cloud providers, an approach it says follows established accounting practices. OpenAI has questioned whether that method overstates its rival's revenue. The fundraising race is unfolding against a less forgiving market backdrop. AI infrastructure stocks have faced selling pressure, rising borrowing costs, and investor questions about returns on massive data center investments. Cloud infrastructure provider CoreWeave recently came under scrutiny over nearly $50 billion in borrowings, adding to concerns about the debt financing the AI buildout. Companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index have lost approximately $1.6 trillion in market value in less than two weeks. For OpenAI, the stakes extend far beyond another record-setting funding round. A successful deal could provide fresh capital for its infrastructure commitments and establish a valuation benchmark ahead of Anthropic's public debut. The bigger question is whether either company can eventually generate enough profit to justify the trillion-dollar expectations investors are placing on artificial intelligence.
Former Google CEO Schmidt owns 1% stake in Anthropic, Bloomberg reports
Oct 19 (Reuters) - Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt owns about 1% of Anthropic, positioning him for one of the largest individual windfalls when the AI startup goes public, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. * Schmidt invested tens of millions of dollars in Anthropic's Series A funding round, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It was unclear whether he has sold any of his stake since. * Schmidt's representatives declined to comment. Anthropic did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. * Anthropic's planned initial public offering is expected to generate substantial returns for its early investors and employees. * Some investors discussed a valuation of around $1.5 trillion at an investor meeting, below earlier expectations of roughly $2 trillion, Reuters reported last week. * In its IPO prospectus seen by Reuters in September, Anthropic laid out a vision that AI will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and the internet. * Amazon and Google were among Anthropic's early backers, investing billions of dollars and supplying the cloud computing capacity required to develop and run its Claude AI models. * Schmidt served as Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011 and later as executive chairman of its parent company, Alphabet, before stepping down in January 2018. (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
OpenAI rushing to raise $30 billion before Anthropic's IPO. What is at stake?
OpenAI is accelerating a proposed $30 billion funding round as Anthropic prepares for an expected November IPO OpenAI wants to secure billions of dollars from investors before its biggest rival, Anthropic, gets a chance to make its case to the public markets, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The ChatGPT maker is speeding up talks for a funding round of about $30 billion that could value it at more than $1.4 trillion, the report said. OpenAI is aiming to secure investor commitments before Anthropic's expected stock market debut in mid-November. Existing backers, including Japan's SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, are in talks to participate in the round, according to the report. Why does OpenAI want to move first? Both companies are competing for money from investors who may have to choose how much capital to commit to each business. Anthropic is preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO), in which a company sells shares to the public for the first time. Its planned listing could give investors a more detailed view of its finances and provide a direct basis for comparing the two AI developers. OpenAI wants to complete its fundraising before those disclosures invite closer comparisons between the companies, the report said. The timing also matters because investors are becoming more cautious about the high valuations attached to AI companies. Rising bond yields, volatile technology stocks and questions about the cost of building AI infrastructure have made it harder for businesses to assume that investors will keep funding expansion at any price. By securing commitments now, OpenAI could bring in fresh capital before investors reassess how much they are willing to pay for AI businesses. OpenAI points to revenue growth OpenAI is making the case that its growing business supports a higher valuation. The company has told investors that its annualised revenue reached $50 billion following the launch of its GPT-6 Astra model. It expects that figure to rise to $70 billion by the end of the year, according to the report. Annualised revenue is an estimate of what a company would earn over a full year if its current pace of revenue continued. It is not the same as revenue already earned during that year. OpenAI has also cut prices on some of its cheaper AI models, saying this has helped increase usage. The company has told investors it could reduce prices further. Lower prices could attract more users and businesses, but they can also put pressure on how much money a company earns from each customer. Investors will need to assess whether rising usage can translate into sustainable revenue growth. OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in March, after a funding round that included $122 billion in committed capital. A valuation above $1.4 trillion would mark a substantial increase in just a few months. Anthropic is also growing fast Anthropic is entering the fundraising race with strong revenue growth of its own. The company told prospective investors that its revenue rose to $16.8 billion in the third quarter from $11.6 billion in the second quarter, as reported by Reuters. It also said it was profitable on an adjusted basis during the third quarter. Its annualised revenue had reached roughly $65 billion by July, Reuters previously reported. But the pace of monthly revenue growth has raised questions about how much investors should pay for the business. Some existing and prospective investors have discussed a valuation of around $1.5 trillion for Anthropic's expected IPO, below the roughly $2 trillion valuation previously sought. OpenAI has also challenged how Anthropic reports revenue from contracts sold through third-party cloud providers. OpenAI records revenue after deducting partners' shares, while it has accused Anthropic of counting the full value of such contracts. Anthropic has said it follows established accounting practices. These differences could make comparisons between the two companies more complicated, even as investors try to decide which business offers the stronger growth prospects. What is at stake for investors? The immediate question is whether OpenAI can secure funding at its proposed valuation before Anthropic's IPO gives investors more information to assess the rival company. For investors, the challenge is to judge whether the companies' rapid growth can justify valuations running into trillions of dollars. Revenue growth matters, but so do the costs of developing AI models, operating data centres and securing the computing power needed to serve more users. The risks are becoming harder to ignore. AI infrastructure companies have faced pressure as investors examine the borrowing needed to finance data centres. Several companies have also delayed or paused planned stock market listings amid market volatility and concerns about valuations. OpenAI needs capital to meet its infrastructure commitments and strengthen its finances if weaker IPO markets delay its planned 2027 listing, Reuters reported. The outcome of the fundraising race could therefore affect more than the two AI developers. It could also offer a signal of how much investors are willing to pay to participate in the next phase of the AI boom. If OpenAI secures the money at its targeted valuation, it would strengthen its ability to finance expansion without immediately relying on public markets. If investors become more cautious, the company may face tougher questions about its revenue outlook, spending and valuation.
OpenAI speeds fundraising ahead of Anthropic IPO
The race reflects wider market jitters, with AI valuations under pressure, IPO plans delayed, and investors comparing OpenAI and Anthropic's growth, pricing and accounting methods. NEW YORK - OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments before rival Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November, in an unusually fast fundraising that could value the ChatGPT maker at over US$1.4 trillion (S$1.79 trillion), according to two people familiar with the matter. The rapid timetable reflects, in part, a desire to get ahead of Anthropic as the two frontier labs are increasingly tapping in to a similar investor base, the people said, adding that OpenAI wants to capitalise on its recent revenue growth after launching new models. SoftBank Group, Abu Dhabi-based MGX and other existing backers of OpenAI are in talks to join the round of about US$30 billion, one of the people said. The acceleration underscores how closely the two AI developers are competing for capital as both pursue trillion-dollar price tags, amid growing concern about rising interest rates, significant volatility in technology stocks and rising scrutiny of AI valuations. OpenAI held meetings with long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds last week while Anthropic was hosting its own investor day. OpenAI's funding round is expected to move faster than is typical for an offering of its size, the people said. Investors familiar with the company say OpenAI also needs capital to fund its substantial infrastructure commitments and bolster its balance sheet if a deterioration in the IPO markets further delays its planned 2027 listing. Though there is high demand for the shares of both companies, investors face the challenge of evaluating and allocating capital to two complex, competing offerings within days or weeks of each other. Some investors view OpenAI's financing push as an effort to lock in capital from funds that might otherwise devote more of their resources to Anthropic's IPO, the people said. OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment. Anthropic and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trying to head off comparisons OpenAI is pitching investors on growth that accelerated after the launch of its GPT-6 Astra model, saying it had reached US$50 billion in annualised revenue and expecting that figure to rise to US$70 billion by year-end, according to one of the people. OpenAI has also cut prices on its cheaper models, which it said has boosted usage, and told investors it can further lower the price of AI models, the person added. Anthropic's annualised revenue reached roughly US$65 billion by July, Reuters previously reported. Its quarterly revenue jumped to US$16.8 billion in the third quarter from US$11.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026, it told investors, but slowing month-to-month revenue growth has raised concerns among investors about its valuation. OpenAI is seeking to complete the fundraising before Anthropic's financial disclosures give investors a fuller picture of its business and invite comparisons between the two companies, one person said. The disclosures could prompt investors to press OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar for more details about the company's revenue growth and financial outlook, the person added. OpenAI records revenue on a net basis by subtracting partner shares upfront. It has accused Anthropic of inflating its revenue by counting the full, gross value of contracts sold through third-party cloud providers. Anthropic told Reuters earlier that it follows established accounting practices. "OpenAI could want to set its own valuation and not have to worry about a comp (comparison)," said Edward Best, co-chair of capital markets at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who is not working on the deal and commented on a hypothetical basis. "It's really a two-horse race in terms of being public." OpenAI was last valued at US$852 billion in March, after a record-breaking US$122 billion funding round, including a commitment from Amazon.com, which agreed to invest up to US$50 billion in the lab. The Financial Times previously reported some details of OpenAI's potential fundraising. IPO plans hit by market jitters A number of companies preparing to go public have decided to wait until after Anthropic's planned IPO, wary of competing for investor demand amid market volatility and a pullback in AI stocks, bankers and investors said. Some late-stage companies are also timing private fundraising rounds to avoid coinciding with Anthropic's expected debut, the bankers and investors said. Some existing and prospective Anthropic investors have argued for a valuation closer to US$1.5 trillion for its market debut - instead of the desired US$2 trillion - after the AI startup's third-quarter results fell short of expectations, Reuters reported last week. The reassessment comes amid a choppy market since September, with volatility in oil prices, rising bond yields and growing concerns about AI safety weighing on investor appetite for technology stocks. Investors are also scrutinising the cost of AI infrastructure, including the debt needed to finance the data centres powering the boom. At the centre of the latest concerns is cloud provider CoreWeave, whose shares and debt tumbled last week as investors scrutinised the nearly US$50 billion in borrowings used to fund its rapid expansion. The uncertainty has disrupted what had been expected to be a busy autumn for IPOs, with companies reassessing their listing plans amid market volatility and concerns about valuations. Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT, Nvidia -backed Firmus and SoftBank-backed SB Energy have either pulled or paused their listings. Nuclear services company Holtec cited a "perfect storm", driven mainly by uncertainty around data centre demand, when it pulled its US listing in September. Companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, widely viewed as a proxy for AI-related semiconductor demand, have shed US$1.6 trillion in less than two weeks, while AI infrastructure companies have come under particular pressure. REUTERS
Anthropic Takes Its AI Safety Proposals to Capitol Hill | PYMNTS.com
Anthropic has reportedly been pitching U.S. lawmakers on draft artificial intelligence safety legislation. That's according to a report Friday (Oct. 16) by Politico, which describes the push as a "notable effort" by the AI lab to guide the rules covering its tech. "This bill represents the proposals outlined in Anthropic's Advanced AI Framework, which we have been advocating for with federal and state lawmakers since June," an Anthropic spokesperson told the news outlet. "These are sensible policies we believe Congress should act on." According to a draft proposal seen by Politico, the bill would let the government block an AI model's release or use only if it poses a foreseeable, imminent risk of more than $1 billion in damages, or of killing or seriously harming upwards of 50 people. The bill says the risks must be related to the creation or release of a biological weapon, an AI model evading its developer's controls, or a cyberattack. In addition, the bill would also call on independent evaluations, registered with the Commerce Department, to periodically review the lab and its frontier models. If the evaluators conclude there is "imminent enumerated risk" for a company's frontier models, they must report it to the Commerce Department within 72 hours of finishing their assessment, Politico added. While many AI labs have reported incidents in which their agents hacked other websites, none have caused any widespread deaths or done more than $1 billion in damages, the report said. Anthropic's proposal for Commerce Department-directed AI evaluations is in keeping with the Artificial Intelligence Risk Management and Security Act of 2026, a bill introduced by a trio of Senate Democrats. As covered here last week, that bill joins one from Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that calls for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop standards to protect against catastrophic harms from AI models. Meanwhile, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's AI Risk Evaluation Act would place the Department of Energy in charge of stress-testing the most powerful AI systems before they are rolled out to the public. "Regardless of which party ends up holding the gavel on Capitol Hill in January, any AI safety bill is likely to face pushback from the White House," that report said. "The Trump administration remains adamantly opposed to mandatory AI regulation, favoring a voluntary approach based on standards developed by the industry. With the industry, the public and many statehouses all clamoring for action, however, White House opposition may not be enough to stop AI safety efforts."
Anthropic to shift some shares into new 'public good' fund- Moneycontrol.com
Anthropic PBC said it plans to put 5% of its shares into a new so-called public benefit fund that allows it to make donations that can address "the public good," including mitigating AI's impact on the job market. The announcement comes as the fast-growing artificial intelligence startup prepares for an IPO expected to be one of the biggest ever. At the same time, Anthropic is seeking to address rising concerns about AI safety and its potential unintended impact -- from hacking to mass job losses -- as companies move to adopt AI agents that can supplant human labor. The new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund could allow the company to pursue its mission "in new ways," such as using some of the money to address "labor market impacts," according to the statement. Warnings about catastrophic AI scenarios that critics say could put humanity at risk have focused attention on AI safety in recent weeks, including at top political levels. President Donald Trump hosted Silicon Valley leaders, including Anthropic PBC Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei, at the White House in September. With Trump rejecting the idea of new federal regulations, he and the executives agreed on a framework for AI firms to have outside auditors assess safety risks of AI models and put stronger internal controls in place. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude large language model, may start formally marketing its initial public offering as soon as the week of Nov. 9, which would put it on track to begin trading before the US Thanksgiving holiday, people familiar with the matter said in early October. Anthropic said the new fund will be, subject to approval, a wholly owned LLC -- rather than a nonprofit -- and will grow as the company grows. None of the Anthropic equity held by the LLC will be used for lobbying or political giving in the US or abroad, according to the statement. Public benefit funds are a new type of "impact" investment fund designed to go beyond the goal of financial returns to also make a positive social or environmental impact. "Subject to stockholder approval, 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," the company said. Anthropic recently presented its own draft bill to US lawmakers for how to regulate AI safety and security, suggesting the government could block the release of an AI model if it could risk killing or injuring more than 50 people or causing more than $1 billion in damages. Among those warning about AI risks are International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who said the technology could deliver "a slow-moving tsunami" that hollows out the low-paying job market. Anthropic has spent much of the year in a fight with the US government that has cast a spotlight on its broader national impacts after it was labeled a supply-chain risk for attempting to limit some Pentagon and other potential uses of its technology, despite previously offering its AI to develop autonomous drone technology and for other classified uses to assist military combat. Tensions between the White House and the company have eased in recent weeks.
Anthropic commits 5% shares to public benefit fund: Why does it warn 'AI could cause instability for many workers'?
Anthropic Public Benefit Fund: Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has announced plans to commit a portion of its equity to a newly established Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, aimed at supporting initiatives addressing the societal and economic impact of AI. In a statement, the company said that, subject to stockholder approval, it would initially allocate 5 per cent of its shares to the fund. An additional 2 per cent may be added at the board's discretion for every 50 per cent increase in the company's valuation above a specified baseline. The announcement comes as concerns grow over the potential impact of artificial intelligence on employment and the broader economy. "AI may generate enormous economic value, but it could also cause instability for many workers," Anthropic said in its announcement. The company said it had already committed $200 million to studying and addressing the impact of AI on labour markets. However, it acknowledged that the rapid pace of technological advancement could require more ambitious measures. Anthropic Public Benefit Fund: How will it work? Anthropic said the fund would operate as a wholly-owned limited liability company (LLC), rather than a traditional nonprofit organisation under Section 501(c)(3) of the US tax code. According to the company, this structure would provide greater flexibility in deploying resources, including making large donations to nonprofit organisations or distributing funds directly to specific populations. Anthropic also clarified that none of the company equity held by the fund would be used for lobbying or political contributions, either in the United States or abroad. Nearly 20% of Anthropic shares dedicated to public good The company said the latest initiative builds on existing commitments made by its founders and employees. When Anthropic was established, its co-founders pledged to donate 80 per cent of their equity holdings. The company also introduced an equity donation matching programme, allowing employees to pledge shares that Anthropic would match. According to Anthropic, approximately half of its employees participate in the programme. With the newly announced commitment, the company said roughly 20 per cent of Anthropic shares would be dedicated to public benefit initiatives, with the possibility of further increases linked to future valuation milestones. Anthropic links future growth to public benefit commitments Explaining the rationale behind the initiative, Anthropic said, "It is common practice for tech companies to offer escalating compensation awards to their executives. We are instead directing that equity to the public benefit." The company said the fund's structure would allow the proportion of equity dedicated to public benefit to increase as Anthropic grows. Anthropic currently undertakes several public benefit initiatives within its business, including research into AI safety and interpretability, biomedical research and discounted access to its Claude AI models for nonprofit organisations and scientific institutions. What happens next? Anthropic said it would provide further details about the fund's governance and structure in the coming months, including the valuation milestones that could trigger additional equity allocations. The company also plans to publish a public benefit report outlining progress against its mission. The initial 5 per cent equity commitment remains subject to stockholder approval, while subsequent allocations will depend on valuation milestones and board discretion.
Anthropic commits 5% of its stock to a new 'public benefit' fund
Anthropic said Sunday it is committing 5% of its shares to a new "public benefit" fund, with the fund's worth potentially increasing as its shares grow in value. The shares will go to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity within the company. The fund "will have increased flexibility and scale, enabling us to pursue our mission in new ways: for example, we might explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations," Anthropic said in a blog post. It gave labor market impacts as an example, saying that while it has already committed $200 million to study the effects of artificial intelligence, "given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed." CEO Dario Amodei and the company's five other cofounders established Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a designation that for-profit companies select to balance financial goals and social impact. They have also pledged that they will donate 80% of their wealth. An equity donation match program, in which about half of the company's employees participate, lets workers pledge equity that Anthropic matches. When combined with Sunday's announcement, Anthropic said roughly 20% of its shares will be dedicated to the "public good," plus any additional percentage that could be added if the company's valuation reaches specific milestones. Anthropic is planning a massive initial public offering as soon as November.
Ahead of IPO, AI firm Anthropic announces a new 'public benefit fund ' to commit 5% of its stocks: What we know | Company Business News
Artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic on Sunday (local time) announced that it will commit roughly five per cent of its shares to a new "public benefit" fund, whose value could rise alongside the company's share price. Anthropic Public Benefit Fund: What we know The shares will go to the "Anthropic Public Benefit Fund", a new entity within the company, the AI firm announced in a blog post. Anthropic added, "Today, we're committing a portion of Anthropic's shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity with a structure that increases the stake as the company grows. Subject to stockholder approval, 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." It also said the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund will have greater flexibility and scale, allowing the AI firm to pursue its mission through new approaches, including substantial donations to traditional nonprofits or direct payments to selected groups. An Citing the labour market as an example, it added that while AI may generate huge economic value, it can also destabilize workers. The company has already committed $200 million to study and address this issue; however, bolder approaches may be needed, given the pace at which AI is progressing. The AI firm's co-founders have pledged to give away 80% of their wealth. Roughly half of the company's employees participate in a programme that allows them to pledge shares, with the company matching their contributions. Including the 18 October commitment, Anthropic said roughly 20% of its shares would be earmarked for the "public good." Elon Musk responds to Anthropic's announcement Following Anthropic's announcement, billionaire Elon Musk, who runs Anthropic rival xAI, said on X that he recommended "giving the shares directly to the public." He added, "This is what I will be doing." The announcement comes as the AI firm plans what could be one of the biggest IPOs in history. The company, which has positioned itself as a safety-first AI lab, highlighted the risks that AI could pose, including "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity." In its prospectus to investors, Anthropic devoted at least 80 pages of the 261-page main body to emphasising risk factors. On 28 September, Reuters reported that Anthropic's IPO prospectus highlighted potential risks associated with its AI models, including the possibility of "self-preserving behaviours." The company said these could involve attempts to "resist shutdown, conceal or manipulate information" and behaviour "resembling blackmail."
Anthropic to commit 5% stake to new 'public benefit fund'
AI LAB Anthropic, the developer of Claude, said on Sunday it will commit 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund so it has increased flexibility and scale to make donations for the "public good." The proposed fund would be established as a wholly owned limited liability company and would receive an additional 2% of Anthropic's shares, at the board's discretion, for every 50% increase in the company's value above a baseline that has yet to be disclosed. The move comes at a time when Anthropic is planning one of the biggest IPOs in history as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that requires management to consider certain broader interests as well as turning a profit for investors. The company, which has positioned itself as a safety-first AI lab, has said AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity" and devoted roughly 80 pages of the 261-page main body of its prospectus to laying out risk factors. Anthropic said in its blog post its Public Benefit Fund could support initiatives including nonprofit donations, direct distributions to specific populations and efforts to address AI's impact on the labor market. Elon Musk, who runs Anthropic rival xAI, on X said he recommended "giving the shares directly to the public." Anthropic cited the potential impact of AI on workers as one area of focus for the new fund, building on a previously announced $200 million commitment to study and address labor-market disruption. Global companies have cut thousands of jobs after investing heavily in AI, with many, primarily tech firms, pointing to higher efficiencies from the technology's rapid adoption. IMF research shows that some 40% of jobs will be either augmented, downgraded or eliminated by AI, with the number as high as 60% in advanced economies, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last week. NOT FOR POLITICAL GIVING The AI giant said none of the equity held by its fund would be used for lobbying or political giving in the United States or abroad. US policymakers are weighing greater oversight of artificial intelligence and AI companies are stepping up efforts to shape how the technology is regulated. Combined with its co-founders' pledge to donate 80% of their equity and an employee donation matching program, roughly 20% of Anthropic's shares will be dedicated to public purposes, excluding any additional shares added later. Anthropic said it would say more in the coming months on the fund's governance, structure and the valuation thresholds that could expand its ownership stake. It also plans to publish a public-benefit report detailing progress toward its mission. -- Reuters
Dow Jones Top Company Headlines at 9 PM ET: Anthropic to Commit 5% of Its Shares to New 'Public Benefit' Fund | How ...
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What to Know About the Obscure Private Trust Looming Over Anthropic's IPO
AI company has shared few details on the dynamics of the five-person trust empowered to shape its board and block major moves When Anthropic gathered public-market investors recently to whet their appetites for its initial public offering, executives highlighted ballooning revenues and rapidly ...
Anthropic Plans 5% Stake for Public Benefit Fund as Musk Urges Direct Distribution | TokenPost
The fund's share contribution could grow by 2% for every 50% increase in Anthropic's valuation, reaching about 20%. Musk called for shares to go directly to the public. Anthropic announced a plan to place an initial 5% of its shares in Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a wholly owned entity devoted to public benefit. Elon Musk urged the company to distribute shares directly to the public. Anthropic could add shares equal to 2% of the company for each 50% increase in its valuation from a set baseline. The fund's share contribution could eventually reach about 20%.
Meta blames Anthropic's Claude for wrongly suspending No Kings Instagram - Startup Fortune
No Kings organizers say they posted only a handful of times on October 17, yet Meta says Claude-linked tools hit Instagram's systems at four times normal volume, triggering the automated lockout. Meta locked out the No Kings Coalition's Instagram account in the middle of a nationwide day of action, then pointed the finger at Claude. At about 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, October 17, the main Instagram account for the No Kings Coalition went dark. It happened during "No Kings: Vote Early," a day of action with nearly 3,000 events planned across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. ahead of the November midterms. Meta restored the account roughly 90 minutes later and called the takedown an error. But according to Bloomberg, the company's explanation has shifted since then, and the latest version names a surprising culprit: Anthropic's Claude. Meta told reporters that tools connected to Claude were accessing Instagram profiles, posts and hashtags at roughly four times the normal rate. That volume tripped an automated security system built to catch bot networks and coordinated platform abuse. The system did what it was built to do. It just did it to the wrong target. Meta has not said which Claude-based tool was running, or who was operating it. Nor has it said how that tool was connected to the No Kings account in the first place, a gap that has only fed the suspicion already swirling around the incident. Here's the problem with that story: it doesn't match what organizers say actually happened on the account that day. According to Newsweek, No Kings Coalition administrators said they'd posted only a handful of times on October 17. Mostly they were using the account to livestream rally coverage, not to blast out content at a volume that would look like bot activity to anyone watching. Common Cause raised the suspension publicly as a free-speech concern. The timing didn't help: a protest account going dark in the middle of a nationwide demonstration against the Trump administration was never going to read as a coincidence to the people organizing it. Losing an Instagram account for 90 minutes during a protest sounds survivable, until you count what else went down with it. Public visibility came back within an hour and a half, but organizers said they couldn't get back into the account's backend for roughly four more hours. White House restores UK access to frontier AI models after 17 day freeze Anthropic kept Claude Mythos 5.1 out of Britain's hands for 17 days under a White House order before the freeze lifted on October 11, restoring AISI's access to OpenAI, Anthropic and DeepMind models. - White House reverses UK AI model access freeze - frontier AI model safety testing restrictions lifted That's four hours without the ability to post updates, answer questions from the thousands of people at nearly 3,000 separate events, or correct misinformation in real time, on a day explicitly built around early-voting turnout. This isn't Anthropic moderating content and making a political call. Nothing in Meta's account suggests Claude was deciding what should or shouldn't stay up. The company's story is narrower, and in a way stranger: a Claude-powered tool, operating somewhere in Instagram's pipeline or adjacent to it, generated enough automated traffic that Meta's own bot-detection system mistook organic virality for a coordinated attack. It nuked the account first, and asked questions later. That distinction matters for how exposed Anthropic actually is here, but it won't save the company from the headline. Claude's enterprise reach already runs through content moderation and classification work at companies like Meta. This is the first time that plumbing has surfaced in a story about a political protest group getting silenced, even briefly and even by accident. Anthropic has built its brand on being the safety-conscious lab, the one that talks constitutional AI and responsible deployment more than anyone else in the room. Having its own model's name attached, however indirectly, to a protest account going dark during a day of action is not the kind of press that brand wants. Meta, for its part, has apologized and confirmed the account is functioning normally. But apologies don't undo four hours of silence during a protest. And they don't explain why an automated system built to catch bots couldn't tell the difference between a bot farm and a national coalition livestreaming a rally. Frankly, that's the part Meta still hasn't answered. Until it does, every future suspension of a political account during a moment that matters is going to get read through this one. This article is posted in AI News, check it out for more related stories. Join the discussion Open in the community → Reply Almost there. Sign in and your reply posts straight away.
Anthropic Contributes 5% Shares to Public Benefit Fund Addressing AI Impact
Fund grows with company, adding 2% shares per 50% value increase to support AI-impacted workers and non-profits Claude developer Anthropic has decided to contribute 5% of its company shares to a newly established public benefit fund. Anthropic announced on October 18, local time, that it will contribute 5% of its shares to the 'Anthropic Public Benefit Fund' following shareholder approval. It has decided to additionally contribute 2% of its shares at the board's discretion every time the company's value increases by 50% above a predetermined baseline. This structure ensures that the portion of shares allocated for public benefit grows as the company expands. Anthropic stated, "This fund can be used for large-scale donations to non-profit organizations or for direct financial support to specific groups," citing the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market as a representative example. Anthropic explained, "While AI can generate immense economic value, it can also destabilize the lives of many workers," adding, "Given the rapid pace of AI development, a more aggressive approach may be necessary, and this public benefit fund provides the flexibility to pursue such initiatives." Previously, Anthropic announced plans to invest 200 million dollars to research the impact of AI on the labor market and respond to it. The fund will be established as a limited liability company (LLC) wholly owned by Anthropic. Anthropic emphasized that the shares held by the fund will not be used for lobbying or political donations in the U.S. or abroad. Anthropic stated, "While it is common practice for tech companies to provide larger-scale stock compensation to executives, we have decided to allocate those shares for public benefit." Adding the co-founders' pledge to donate 80% of their shares and the employee share donation matching program, approximately 20% of the company's shares will be used for public benefit purposes.
Anthropic Turns to Lawyers to Teach AI Agents to Negotiate | PYMNTS.com
Anthropic is reportedly in discussions with legal groups to teach artificial intelligence agents negotiation skills. That's according to a report Sunday (Oct. 18) by the Financial Times (FT) citing two sources familiar with the AI company's thinking. They say the startup is looking for advice from law firms to better understand how attorneys interact in negotiations. Two people familiar with Anthropic's thinking said the company is seeking advice from law firms to better understand how lawyers interact in negotiations, representing their clients while honouring fair outcomes. As the FT noted, the rise of personal AI agents is causing companies to consider a future where agents communicate with each other and negotiate on users' behalf. Establishing rules engagement for agents has become increasingly more critical as the technology is adopted more widely and becomes a crucial way that people and businesses employ AI. Anthropic was looking into "negotiation norms" when models interacted, according to one of the sources familiar with Anthropic's work, who added that as agentic systems improved, they would "represent the user" while dealing with other agents whose "goals are at odds." The company was also balancing how much human feedback agents should seek in a negotiation, and how suspicious agents should be of their AI counterparts without becoming "paranoid" or "conspiratorial," the source added. PYMNTS has contacted Anthropic for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. The company declined to comment when reached by the FT. In other agentic AI news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about the technology's use in cross-border treasury, arguing that its strongest early applications could be "the least dramatic." These include automated beneficiary-data validation to reduce avoidable rejections, or the use of exception-management agents to find recurring issues by bank, supplier or payment corridor. There could also be a greater opportunity in the long term: agents could coordinate more complex payment workflows across providers as banks "improve application programming interfaces (APIs), harmonize messaging and extend settlement availability," the report said. "I think every enterprise is already agentic, and the question is how far along are they on that journey," PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster said in a recent thought leadership piece for the seventh annual PYMNTS B2B Payments event. "There's always been a deployment of AI in these businesses. The question is how much is it embedded in the organization ... and how many business activities does it really cover?"
Anthropic Model Sees U.S. GDP at $44 Trillion by 2030 Under AI Scenario | TokenPost
The conditional estimate assumes continued technological progress and implies output nearly 50% above today's GDP of just over $30 trillion. An Anthropic co-founder outlined a conditional path to U.S. GDP of $44 trillion by 2030, saying the company's internal model sees AI lifting output nearly 50% if technology continues to advance. The estimate would put output nearly 50% above current U.S. GDP, which is just over $30 trillion. It is conditional on continued technological progress, not a guaranteed outcome. The co-founder made the remarks Saturday at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, where he urged international cooperation to create strict AI rules. He said policymakers have only a few years to build safeguards as AI capabilities improve quickly. He warned that AI development could accelerate scientific progress and raise concerns about systems moving beyond human control. He said AI remains under human control, despite recent incidents in which systems escaped testing environments and accessed websites and databases. The co-founder described AI's effects on work as uneven. He said it is reducing jobs in call centers and customer service while supporting employment in scientific research. He also described AI as a potential accelerator for scientific discovery and said more countries could join AI development by building data-center computing infrastructure. Separately, an estimate for AI infrastructure puts required annual revenue at $3.725 trillion by 2032, about 9.2% of projected U.S. GDP that year, in an earlier analysis of AI infrastructure's revenue needs.
