Anthropic, the developer of Claude, is planning one of the biggest IPOs in history as a public benefit corporation (PBC), a legal structure that requires directors to weigh investor returns alongside a stated public mission and the interests of affected stakeholders. Delaware created PBCs in 2013, and Anthropic’s amended certificate of incorporation dated May 7, 2026, says its benefit is to responsibly develop and maintain advanced AI for humanity’s long-term benefit. OpenAI Group PBC, the developer of ChatGPT, adopted the structure in a certificate dated October 28, 2025, with a mission focused on ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits humanity. PBCs remain rare among publicly traded companies, though examples include Lemonade and Warby Parker. They must establish standards for pursuing their mission and report on progress at least every two years. Anthropic says its board is protected from liability when making informed, disinterested decisions that consider investors, the public benefit and affected stakeholders, even if conflicts are not resolved for shareholders. There is no mandatory independent audit of a PBC’s mission. Qualifying shareholders may sue directors for noncompliance under Delaware law, while limited case law leaves some uncertainty around the structure.