Anthropic is proposing an unusual governance structure for its stock market flotation, designed to stop future shareholders pushing it to weaken safety work in pursuit of profit, The Verge reports.
The company is a public benefit corporation, legally required to weigh its social mission alongside shareholder returns. Under the plan, four of its seven directors would be chosen by a long-term benefit trust of five financially independent trustees, who hold a special class of shares allowing them to appoint or remove board members. Legal scholars called the arrangement novel and said it gives the founders and trust great power.
However, experts said no structure can fully insulate a listed company from market pressure, and that public shareholders could in time gain the ability to weaken the trust's protections. OpenAI's Sam Altman has cited investor pressure as one reason his firm is not listing this year.
Source: The Verge
