Anthropic I.P.O.: A.I. Critics Accuse Founders of a Power Grab

Anthropic’s IPO prospectus has barely landed, and the backlash was immediate. The Guardrails Alliance and the campaign Stop Funding Billionaires say the company is asking the public to bankroll an A.I. giant while keeping real control in the hands of its founders. Shaunna Thomas, who runs the Guardrails Alliance, called that a decision too important to leave to billionaire executives.

Their gripe starts with governance. Anthropic’s filing shows a share structure built to keep the founders in charge even after the company goes public. The seven co-founders, including Dario and Daniela Amodei, each hold between 231 million and 244 million shares. Economically, that is only about 1.5 percent each. Voting power is a different story.

At the center sits a single Class F share owned by a company controlled by the founders. It has no economic rights, but it always controls 50.1 percent of the vote. Class A shares, the ones public investors will buy, carry one vote each. Class N shares for strategic partners carry no voting rights unless they are sold to an outside buyer. Class E employee shares vote only on limited matters. The result, Anthropic says in its own prospectus, is that holders of Class A shares generally will not be able to sway shareholder votes or board elections.

The company also lays out some of the deal’s scale. Reuters-style handwringing this is not; the numbers are plain enough. Anthropic says it has agreements with the SpaceX subsidiary SpaceXAI worth up to $120.5 billion through 2029, with full capacity expected in December and monthly payments that would run to about $3.1 billion. The Guardrails Alliance seized on that as proof the A.I. industry is already deeply entangled with the political and financial power of Elon Musk and other heavy hitters.

Critics are also worried about who ends up carrying the downside. Elizabeth Parisian of the American Association of University Professors said it was deplorable that Anthropic was still moving ahead despite objections from policymakers, unions, climate groups and others. She argued that retirement money in index funds could be pushed into A.I. listings while insiders cash out first. New York City comptroller Mark Levine has already asked Dario Amodei to delay the IPO over safety concerns, though talks are still ongoing and no delay has been agreed.