Brian Mittendorf
Role at the time: H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, Ohio State University
Statement summary
Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor at Ohio State University, tells the Associated Press that Anthropic's announcement reflects more of an intention to act in the future than an act now. He says an LLC allows payouts to individuals that a 501(c)(3) charity could not make, but that gifts outside traditional charity leave companies in a gray area over how the public benefits.
“reflects more of an intention to do things in the future rather than an act now”
AP report on Anthropic's and OpenAI's plans to share AI wealth with the public, with comments from philanthropy and accounting experts on the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund and its LLC structure.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case asks whether Anthropic should place its public-benefit shares in a company-owned fund. Mittendorf does not reject the structure: he says an LLC allows activity outside traditional philanthropy. He disputes how much the announcement does now, describing it as a commitment to wider goals that are not yet specified and as an intention rather than a present act, so we used the label for challenging the characterization.