Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks during a discussion on “Perspectives on Monetary Policy” at the Thomas Laubach Research Conference on May 19, 2023, at the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Anthropic announced Thursday that it has appointed former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to the long-term benefit trust, the company’s independent governing body that advises the company and appoints board members.
Bernanke succeeded the late Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 to 2014. Shortly after taking office, when the financial crisis hit in 2008, he found himself in the midst of the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. Part of his accomplishment was getting the Fed into the realm of zero interest rates and quantitative easing.
After leaving the Fed, he held various positions at organizations including the Brookings Institution, Citadel, and Pimco. In 2022, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his research into the causes of the Great Depression.
In his role as a member of Anthropic’s long-term benefit trust, Bernanke will help the company understand how AI is changing the economy, according to a blog post.
“Anthropic has created a unique governance structure to ensure that the long-term benefits of AI to humanity far outweigh the risks,” Bernanke said in a statement. “I am honored to have this opportunity and look forward to contributing in any way I can to this important mission.”
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of researchers and executives who defected from OpenAI. The company is valued at $965 billion and is gearing up for a major IPO that could take place as early as this year.
Bernanke is the fourth member of Anthropic’s long-term benefit trust, joining Clinton Health Access Initiative CEO Neil Badi Shah, national security expert Richard Fontaine and international affairs expert Mariano Florentino Cuellar, whom the company appointed in January.
Anthropic said members of the trust do not own any Anthropic stock and are compensated solely for their time and services. Existing directors will elect new members in consultation with the company.
—CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report
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