Anthropic was founded to answer to humanity. Soon, it will also answer to Wall Street
In 2021, a group of employees at OpenAI left to start a new company focused on the safe development of artificial intelligence. They named it Anthropic, a word that means “relating to humanity.” Later this month, that company is expected to make its debut on Wall Street in what could be one of the largest initial public offerings in history. But the move raises a fundamental question: Can a company put humanity first while also answering to Wall Street? The IPO is a monumental development for the AI boom and will put a spotlight on how investors feel about the maker of the Claude chatbot. The stock market debut also marks a new chapter for Anthropic that will test whether it can balance its mission of safely developing AI with the pressures of being a publicly traded company. Anthropic ha…