Anthropic’s potential $2 trillion IPO could turn staff into millionaires—now the AI firm is asking candidates what they’d do if stock fell to zero

As Anthropic targets a $2 trillion IPO that could set records—and even eclipse SpaceX —the blockbuster valuation is expected to create an unprecedented amount of wealth for the AI company’s more than 2,500 employees.

But that potential multimillion-dollar employee windfall appears to be raising concern among company leaders.

Anthropic is reportedly now asking job candidates during culture interviews how they would feel if the company someday abandoned its AI ambitions for safety reasons—and that decision caused its stock to fall to zero, according to Axios .

“I was honest and said no, I would not be happy if the stock went to 0,” one candidate, who discussed the interview process on the anonymous workplace site Blind , said.

“I would want to align doing the most good and remaining ethical while building a sustaining business.” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has an estimated net worth of $15.5 billion, has reportedly expressed concerns about the way the company’s enormous financial incentives could affect its ability to retain employees who are genuinely committed to its mission.

Anthropic, a public benefit corporation, has long sought to distinguish itself from competition like OpenAI through a broader focus on AI safety and the “long-term benefit of humanity.” “At the end of the day, the mission is what we’re all here for,” the company’s values statement reads .

“It gives us a shared purpose and allows us to act swiftly together, rather than being pulled in multiple directions by competing goals.” Anthropic is shelling out base salaries of $400K+ as the battle for tech talent rages on Anthropic is simultaneously fighting to attract the world’s top AI talent while grappling with what could happen if that talent becomes extraordinarily wealthy in the process.

The company is competing with the likes of Meta , Google , Microsoft , and OpenAI for top researchers and engineers—and resultantly offering compensation packages well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Anthropic is currently dangling base salaries of $320,000 to $405,000 for staff software engineering roles, for example.

And there’s plenty more work to be done.

The company currently has more than 500 open roles , including about 90 in sales, over 60 in AI research & engineering, and 47 in security.

In order to land an offer after such a highly competitive process, some candidates are reportedly spending more than $4,000 on private coaching to help them get hired.

“Spend a few thousand dollars, and now your salary goes up by $200,000—that calculus makes sense,” Aline Lerner, founder of prep company Interviewing.io, told Bloomberg .