As a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), Anthropic has a board of directors tasked with balancing the financial interests of stockholders with its promise for public benefit. In Anthropic’s case, this purpose is the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity.
The Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT) is a governing body that elects a majority of Anthropic’s board of directors, to ensure they uphold the company’s mission. The body consists of up to five members, known as Trustees.
What is the Resource and Information Agreement?
In the recent S-1 filing, there are multiple references to a “Resource and Information Agreement” which is currently being rewritten for the IPO. The scope and terms of this agreement are not available as the agreement is not public. Thus, we don’t currently know what information the LTBT gets access to in order to make its decisions.
The only public description of its terms is from 2023. Under that version, Trustees could request any information or resources “reasonably appropriate” to the LTBT’s goals, although the company could withhold them in the case of protecting customer information or avoiding unreasonable expenses, without debate. Here are some open questions about the Resource and Information Agreement we have. Anthropic could likely resolve these by publishing the agreement.
Can Class T Directors share board materials with the Trustees (similar to how OpenAI’s SSC can access OpenAI PBC board meetings)?
What information has the Trust requested, and have they ever been refused?
Does the Trust get information before major decisions, such as frontier model releases or crossing a capability threshold, or only after?
How is this agreement being updated for the IPO? Are there new restrictions on the information and access of the LTBT?
The Stockholder Agreement in the S-1 filing mentions that the LTBT must be informed 5 days in advance about “transfer of control of AI models,” but doesn’t elaborate or define it at all. What is a transfer of control of AI models? To whom?
We want to learn more about the Resource and Information agreement in any way we can, and we welcome any information or conversations. Reach out to contact@modelconduct.org.
TL;DR of Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust
As a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), Anthropic has a board of directors tasked with balancing the financial interests of stockholders with its promise for public benefit. In Anthropic’s case, this purpose is the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity.
The Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT) is a governing body that elects a majority of Anthropic’s board of directors, to ensure they uphold the company’s mission. The body consists of up to five members, known as Trustees.
What is the Resource and Information Agreement?
In the recent S-1 filing, there are multiple references to a “Resource and Information Agreement” which is currently being rewritten for the IPO. The scope and terms of this agreement are not available as the agreement is not public. Thus, we don’t currently know what information the LTBT gets access to in order to make its decisions.
The only public description of its terms is from 2023. Under that version, Trustees could request any information or resources “reasonably appropriate” to the LTBT’s goals, although the company could withhold them in the case of protecting customer information or avoiding unreasonable expenses, without debate. Here are some open questions about the Resource and Information Agreement we have. Anthropic could likely resolve these by publishing the agreement.
We want to learn more about the Resource and Information agreement in any way we can, and we welcome any information or conversations. Reach out to contact@modelconduct.org.