Other Anthropic employees have also committed to donating shares that could be worth billions, with the company saying it will match those contributions.
Amodei warned these wealth dynamics may eventually force a fundamental rethink of work and income.
“In the long term, in a world with enormous total wealth, in which many companies increase greatly in value due to increased productivity and capital concentration, it may be feasible to pay human employees even long after they are no longer providing economic value in the traditional sense,” Amodei wrote—adding that his company is considering a range of pathways for Anthropic employees.
Estimates according to Forbes; their net worths are likely to increase with Anthropic’s growing valuation.
While leaders debate what the future of work could look like, Amodei stresses that action is needed now.
“Wealthy individuals have an obligation to help solve this problem,” Amodei wrote. “It is sad to me that many wealthy individuals (especially in the tech industry) have recently adopted a cynical and nihilistic attitude that philanthropy is inevitably fraudulent or useless.”
Ultimately, Amodei said many near-term solutions are just ways to manage a transition rather than stop what’s coming.
“In the end, AI will be able to do everything, and we need to grapple with that,” Amodei said. “It’s my hope that by that time, we can use AI itself to help us restructure markets in ways that work for everyone, and that the interventions above can get us through the transitional period.”
Fortune reached out to Anthropic for further comment.
