Anthropic is preparing for a Nasdaq listing next month with a valuation that could reach $2 trillion, according to a regulatory filing reviewed on Tuesday.
The filing reveals an unusual governance structure designed to keep control in the hands of the company’s founders. A Long-Term Benefit Trust, which selects its own members, holds the power to appoint or remove four of the seven board directors. The remaining three are elected by shareholders. However, CEO Dario Amodei and his sister, co-founder Daniela Amodei, cannot be removed by the Trust, and the seven co-founders retain 50.1% voting rights through a special share class, effectively sidelining common shareholders.
The company’s prospectus devotes 92 of its 300 pages to risks, with a central warning that its AI systems could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.” It also cautions that advanced models might aid malicious actors in developing chemical, biological, or other dangerous weapons. Additionally, Anthropic acknowledges the possibility of losing control over its own products, citing risks of unpredictable self-preservation behaviors, resistance to shutdown, or deceptive outputs resembling coercion.
The founders emphasize that all efforts are guided by a single mission: the responsible development of AI for the benefit of humanity, framing this commitment as a competitive advantage.
