Anthropic has unveiled the research agenda for its Economic Futures Research Fund, committing $200 million to support external research on interventions to prepare society for the economic impacts of AI. The fund aims to study programs that could make the economy more flexible and resilient, ensure broad sharing of AI benefits, and minimize harm from AI-driven disruption.
The company prioritizes five research areas: shaping AI's impact on workers at the firm and workplace level; equipping people to navigate AI-driven transitions; modernizing income support for AI-driven displacement; building worker stakes in AI-driven growth before disruption arrives; and generating new evidence on public investments. Anthropic emphasizes that while AI capabilities are improving, the pace of economic diffusion and its effects remain uncertain, necessitating empirical evidence on which interventions work.
Anthropic plans to fund large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs), ambitious pilots, and program evaluations, with grants typically ranging from $5 million to $30 million, though larger projects may be considered. No grants below $1 million will be awarded. The fund is global but initially US-centric due to Anthropic's headquarters and Claude's usage patterns. Eligible applicants include accredited universities, research institutes, and nonprofits with a track record of field experiments.
The fund represents a significant evolution of Anthropic's Economic Futures program, shifting focus to ambitious projects and large grants. Anthropic seeks partners willing to share findings publicly at key milestones to provide timely signals for action. The company also notes that it may fund creative pilots where randomized trials alone provide only incremental evidence.