FT: Anthropic is preparing to go public while giving a mission-focused external trust unusual level of power over its board, a structure that has never faced a serious profit conflict.

Can an independent trustees (with no equity in the company) restrain management when safety and shareholder returns conflict?

That Long-Term Benefit Trust can appoint or remove directors and receives advance notice of major company actions, including new AI model launches.

The Trust's authority is already operational, with Trust-appointed directors now constituting a majority of Anthropic's board.

The unresolved question is whether that authority survives its first serious collision with the financial interests of public shareholders, because no such major conflict has yet tested it.