Anthropic commits $200 million to economic research fund

Anthropic has committed $200 million to an expanded Economic Futures Research Fund supporting external studies of interventions intended to prepare society for the economic effects of artificial intelligence.

The company said the global fund will concentrate on ambitious projects and large grants. It plans primarily to award between $5 million and $30 million per project, while remaining open to larger amounts for proposals it considers well scoped and potentially high impact. Anthropic will not directly fund projects below $1 million through the program.

Five research priorities

Anthropic identified five areas that will receive priority.

The first covers how companies integrate AI into workplaces. Proposed work may include field experiments comparing AI systems and integration methods, studies of how organizational choices affect productivity gains, and evaluations of retention tax credits or employer co-investment requirements.

A second area focuses on helping people navigate AI-related transitions. Anthropic said relevant projects could evaluate retraining, job placement, licensing reform, educational programs, apprenticeships, mentorship and portable benefits. The fund may also support tests of whether promising training programs can expand quickly across larger populations.

The third priority concerns income support for displaced workers. Possible research includes changes to unemployment insurance, relief for people who exhaust or do not qualify for that insurance, and longer-term unconditional income pilots. Anthropic said such pilots could examine outcomes including consumption, wellbeing, family stability, child development and civic participation.

The fourth area covers mechanisms that could give workers a stake in AI-related economic growth. Anthropic listed research into capital accounts, equity-sharing arrangements, dividends, public ownership and different methods of raising and distributing revenue.

The final priority examines public investment. Potential projects include funding service jobs in areas such as education, community health, parks and the arts; expanding access to AI-enabled public services; testing guaranteed jobs for displaced or long-term unemployed workers; and combining investments in places exposed to displacement or major AI infrastructure development.

Funding and eligibility

Anthropic said it is seeking large-scale randomized controlled trials, creative pilots and program evaluations. The company is particularly interested in projects that could expand substantially if initial results are promising. It also wants research partners to share findings publicly at important milestones.

Eligible applicants include accredited universities and other degree-granting institutions, independent research institutes, policy research organizations and nonprofits with experience running field experiments at scale. Researchers may lead applications submitted through their institutions, but Anthropic will not consider applications from individuals acting in a personal capacity.

The company said it will give greater consideration to work aligned with its five priorities but will also consider ambitious proposals outside those areas. Although the listed directions emphasize the United States, Anthropic described the program as global and said it expects its funding to reflect needs worldwide.

Anthropic called the fund an evolution of the Economic Futures program it launched a year earlier. The company said the shift toward larger projects followed its experience managing many small grants and its interest in supporting substantial external research efforts.

Source: Anthropic’s “A research agenda for the Economic Futures Research Fund” announcement, published July 22, 2026.