Maybe you're thinking of B Corp? That's just a certification from some group. Public Benefit Corporation, on the other hand, changes directors' fiduciary responsibilities. For example, earlier this year, the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that PBC directors are not obligated to maximize shareholder value when selling control of their company.
I highly recommend Eric Ries' new book Incorruptible if you want to learn more about this stuff. In there he tells the story of the Vectura Group, a pharma company that was developing treatments for asthma and other respiratory diseases. It was looking at a sale, and it had a couple offers, the one from Phillip Morris slightly edged out the other, and because of fiduciary duty, even though many involved viscerally hated the idea of going to Phillip Morris, as the cause of many of the ailments they sought to cure, they sold to them.
Of course Delaware ruled that. The same applies to all corporations. No corporation _has_ to maximize shareholder value. That Doug v ford case is not gospel.
Could you elaborate on your feelings on that? I was reading about BlueSky's PBC status literally yesterday, and am rather interested in what people's perception of such an entity is, vs a hybrid such as Wikipedia/Enterprise Wikimedia.
A public benefit corp is a 'greenwashing' term based on the meme that people think a corporation 'must maximize shareholder profits' from the Dodge v. Ford case. But its not true a corportation doesnt have to maximize shareholder profits and a PBC does have to provide any public benefit at all. There is no tangible difference between the two other than the public perception that these are different.
What a crock of shit. Who actually buys the idea that they are in for anything but money? Pretending to care is almost worse than just owning the fact they are out for profit.
They are the only major US AI company who objected to the use of their AI for murder without human oversight. They got canceled by the government for that.
Yeah, I find the HN hate for anthropic over other AI companies somewhat odd. Are you honestly trying to have me believe you trust them less than OpenAI or Meta? It honestly reads like a bunch of employees of the also rans complaining about the current leader in the space.
Wow, they did one good thing! Let's absolve them of everything else. Saying "they objected to murder!" is not the defense you think it is. And what does it say about the other AI companies? They are all a cancer, and they pretend it's for everyone's benefit, and they pretend we have some say in what they do. "But they didn't murder anyone!" is the bare fucking minimum I expect from every company, and a whole lot more besides.
She probably thought that having Jeffrey Epstein involved in her porn site would be a benefit to humanity. The people involved in Epstein's plots probably also thought they were benefiting humanity (just maybe not the humans alive right now)
And for clarity, this isn't just Dario's wife, she's part of the executive staff.
Giving the public an interest in the private company gives the public the impression that it's in their benefit if the government doesn't regulate the company.
Like giving turkeys a share in a cranberry sauce company.
The pillars read as claimed achievements in this link. But from the charter: "Each pillar describes a condition we want to be true in a world where AI has gone well, and realizing them is a project that encompasses not only Anthropic but also governments, academia, civil society, and the broader AI industry."
> Pillar 2: AI safety is a universal practice backstopped by law.AI developers everywhere follow safe development and deployment practices, sustained by industry norms and enforced by regulation.
They so, so badly want to criminalize local models.
I didn't want to keep editing my comment so I am replying to it, so much of this document makes me angry:
> Before we can align a model with human values, we must consider what those
values should be.
Ok, so you believe that 1) this technology will become so powerful as to surpass humans in pretty much every imaginable way, so much so that you see it as an existential threat to humanity itself, and 2) that you see yourself as a responsible steward to avoiding bad outcomes, but 3), that you need to be the arbiter of what human values should be?
Couldn’t agree more. This is pure elitism, fervently stroking the rod of their own noble justification for why their stewardship is ordained. This is techno-corporate fascism dressed up as the greatest thing that ever happened to you.
I was never a fan of Anthropic but I like them less and less as the year wears on. Claude increasingly has begun to moralize and it sometimes sounds like a holier-than-thou NorCal purity person.
I increasingly consider Anthropic's so-called humanistic stance completely hubristic and hypocritical. They are our self-appointed future dictators.
Some of the aspects of these pillars need to be fleshed out, this reads like it was slapped together as a last second presentation.
For example, “Help all people, especially those most affected by AI, earn more and feel financially secure.”
How would this work? How does AI do anything but detract from the value of labor? Anything made by AI or through heavy AI involvement can be remade just as easily. It circumvents the moat of expertise and effort.
I wish AI companies would just be honest with the most likely consequences of their products proliferation, instead of these Disney-a** sunshine and rainbow pieces. Then maybe we could have a real conversation.
The public would benefit the most from an American distillation regime. The faster models become a commodity the better. Then it's truly, a public good.
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[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 15.8 ms ] threadI highly recommend Eric Ries' new book Incorruptible if you want to learn more about this stuff. In there he tells the story of the Vectura Group, a pharma company that was developing treatments for asthma and other respiratory diseases. It was looking at a sale, and it had a couple offers, the one from Phillip Morris slightly edged out the other, and because of fiduciary duty, even though many involved viscerally hated the idea of going to Phillip Morris, as the cause of many of the ailments they sought to cure, they sold to them.
Looks like an interesting read, thanks for the recommendation!
Maybe organize a "spontaneous" demonstration in favor of AI with 10 year olds wearing scarves and waving Anthropic flags.
Seems like a good time to remember that Dario Amodei’s wife pitched Jeffery Epstein on funding her porn site.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/08/14/who-is-...
And for clarity, this isn't just Dario's wife, she's part of the executive staff.
Pillar 7: freedom is slavery
Like giving turkeys a share in a cranberry sauce company.
So these are aspirational.
They so, so badly want to criminalize local models.
> Before we can align a model with human values, we must consider what those values should be.
Ok, so you believe that 1) this technology will become so powerful as to surpass humans in pretty much every imaginable way, so much so that you see it as an existential threat to humanity itself, and 2) that you see yourself as a responsible steward to avoiding bad outcomes, but 3), that you need to be the arbiter of what human values should be?
How fucking arrogant, pardon my language. My god.
I increasingly consider Anthropic's so-called humanistic stance completely hubristic and hypocritical. They are our self-appointed future dictators.
Okay so where's my free access to Claude Code
You may share in whatever spills over from their munificence.
They will wave at you or not from Elysium.
For example, “Help all people, especially those most affected by AI, earn more and feel financially secure.”
How would this work? How does AI do anything but detract from the value of labor? Anything made by AI or through heavy AI involvement can be remade just as easily. It circumvents the moat of expertise and effort.
I wish AI companies would just be honest with the most likely consequences of their products proliferation, instead of these Disney-a** sunshine and rainbow pieces. Then maybe we could have a real conversation.
I know I know. Strongest positive interpretation and all, but that is for people and not for corporate PR. Can we please just not.
As soon as I can I'm off to self hosting and providing the service to friends and family via a VPN.
These companies are just ingesting public and frequently private information and regurgitating it back as a service.
As soon as I can run inference locally will do so.
Just look at the maths people whose work was stolen.
You want to benefit the public? Open your weights and training data.
Otherwise FO pretending to have a social conscience, you don't.