Omidyar Network (ON), the philanthropic investment firm established in 2004 by Giving Pledger Pierre Omidyar, has announced the purchase—alongside the Ford and Nathan Cummings foundations—of nearly 50,000 shares of Anthropic, a generative AI company.

According to ON, Anthropic’s “commitment to transparency, accountability, and safety,” aligns with the impact investor’s interest in supporting generative AI “that protects and promotes the public interest and prioritizes the long-term benefit of humanity.” The shares in the privately held firm were acquired from a sale of assets as part of the FTX bankruptcy proceedings.

Anthropic’s large language model, Claude, is governed by a constitution that takes inspiration from the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Anthropic uses a “long-term benefit trust” framework as a buffer against direct investor influence, which fits well with ON’s efforts to promote corporate practices that reflect the interests of multiple stakeholders, not only financial shareholders.

“As a philanthropic leader who manages both our grants and our capital for social good, we are investing in generative AI that protects and promotes the public interest and prioritizes the long-term benefit of humanity,” said ON chief executive Mike Kubzansky. “That’s why we recently acquired shares in Anthropic, a leading generative AI company recognized for its commitment to transparency, accountability, and safety.”

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