Nonprofits Gear Up for OpenAI, Anthropic IPO Wealth Wave
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- OpenAI and Anthropic, two near-trillion-dollar AI companies, are expected to go public soon, potentially creating hundreds of ultrawealthy employees aligned with effective altruism philosophy.
- Anthropic's seven founders pledged to donate 80% of their wealth, with the company matching 1–3 shares per employee donation depending on tenure and limits; one insider estimates the IPO could generate $15 billion in annual additional philanthropic giving.
- Ryan Carrier's ForHumanity, which audits AI systems and has raised only hundreds of thousands since 2016, is among roughly 18 nonprofits WIRED spoke with that are ramping up hiring and outreach to capture the expected windfall.
- Redwood Research CEO Buck Shlegeris is preparing to absorb large sums by training staff to manage teams capable of "crazy expensive projects," while expressing concern that AI poses an extinction risk with a "really strong chance" of materializing.
- Venture capitalist Geoff Ralston co-authored an action plan seeking $2.5 billion over five years for AI biosecurity, and plans to solicit donations from frontier-lab employees who "understand the threat vectors" better than anyone.
- Coefficient Giving's largest donors, Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and wife Cari Tuna, committed $1 billion to global health this month—a "one-off surge" roughly six times larger than initially planned.
- Model Evaluation and Threat Research declined to solicit funding from OpenAI and Anthropic employees, citing concerns it would jeopardize the nonprofit's independence from the companies it evaluates.
Why it matters: If Anthropic's IPO alone generates ~$15 billion per year in giving—a figure equal to four Bill Gates-level donors combined—effective altruism priorities like AI extinction risk and biosecurity could see massive funding while causes such as human rights, mass surveillance, and global-south nonprofits are crowded out. Nonprofits removed from the San Francisco AI orbit or working on politically sensitive issues like child safety and disinformation risk being left behind regardless of need.
