According to ChainCatcher, X user Kevin Bass said he had audited the finances of artificial intelligence company Anthropic and found what he described as a shocking situation, leading him to call for a congressional investigation.
Bass questions Anthropic’s financial structure
Bass said Anthropic was not only seeking regulatory capture, but had built what he called a machine of regulatory capture that could not be switched off. He argued that the company’s financial incentives made it impossible for it to shut down its own AI doomsday loop.
In Bass’s account, that loop begins with METR. Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei proposed that a third-party evaluator assess model risk, and Bass said METR was the group put forward for that role.
Claims of financial dependence tied to Anthropic
Bass said METR is financially dependent on Anthropic’s success, especially on the rapid appreciation of more than $7 billion worth of Anthropic stock. Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz contributed that stock to Good Ventures Foundation, and Bass said the holding makes up most of the foundation’s portfolio.
He also said Good Ventures Foundation is the dominant funder across what he described as the broader Anthropic network ecosystem. According to Bass, the stock was worth $500 million early last year and climbed to more than $7.7 billion roughly 16 months later. On that basis, he argued that METR could not afford to disrupt that growth.
Broader funding network also targeted in the posts
Bass also said the same organization that funds METR supports groups that promote AI doomer narratives, including the Tarbell Center. He said the center has published articles in The Verge, Science, and the Los Angeles Times.
Based on those funding links, Bass argued that organizations such as METR are not independent from Anthropic and cannot provide independent assessments. He said Congress must investigate.