Anthropic on Wednesday announced that it has acquired Vercept, an AI startup with deep roots to a few of the greatest names in Seattle’s tech scene. The acquisition marks the newest after Anthropic acquired coding agent engine Bun in December to assist scale Claude Code.
Vercept had created instruments for extra advanced agentic duties, together with its product Vy, a computer-use agent within the cloud that would function a distant Apple Macbook. Vercept is likely one of the many startups engaged on re-imagining the non-public laptop for the age of AI brokers. As a part of the deal, Anthropic is shuttering Vercept’s product on March 25.
The startup was a grad of Seattle’s AI-focused incubator A12, which spawned from the longstanding Allen Institute for AI. Vercept’s co-founders had roots with the Allen Institute, as nicely, and had been beforehand researchers there. One co-founder, Matt Deitke, made information final 12 months as one of many AI researchers who negotiated a monster $250 million salary from Meta to affix its Superintelligence Lab. On Wednesday, Deitke congratulated his former colleagues in a post on X.
Vercept was a comparatively excessive profile AI startup within the area. In a LinkedIn post saying the acquisition by Anthropic, Vercept CEO Kiana Ehsani mentioned the startup had raised a complete of $50 million. She referred to as out A12’s Seth Bannon, a board member, because the lead investor. Vercept beforehand introduced it had raised a $16 million seed round final January.
The listing of angel traders was spectacular, too, and included former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, Cruise founder Kyle Vogt, and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi, Geekwire reported.
In Anthropic’s announcement of the acquisition, the corporate named co-founders Ehsani, Luca Weihs, and Ross Girshick as a few of the staff introduced on to affix Anthropic within the acquisition. Nonetheless, not all of Vercept’s co-founders are becoming a member of the Claude maker.
Matt Deitke, one other Vercept co-founder, made information final 12 months as one of many AI researchers who negotiated a monster salary when Meta was hiring and poaching for its Superintelligence Lab. On Wednesday, Deitke congratulated his former colleagues in a post on X.
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Oren Etzioni, who has previously been named as a co-founder of Vercept and investor within the startup, is well-known in Seattle because the founding chief of the Allen Institute for AI. He’s additionally not becoming a member of Anthropic, and vocally much less happy concerning the acqui-hire. He posted on LinkedIn: “After slightly bit greater than a 12 months, Vercept is chucking up the sponge and giving their prospects 30 days to get off the platform. Unhappy. A incredible staff is becoming a member of Anthropic. I want them the easiest!”
Etzioni can also be a professor on the College of Washington and identified for other startups he’s based and backed as a VC. He didn’t reply to a request for remark.
On Etzioni’s LinkedIn submit, he accused Bannon, the Vercept lead investor, of being “partly accountable” for Vercept not hiring the proper enterprise individuals. A backwards and forwards ensued between the traders, with Bannon condemning Etzioni’s remarks: “… you disparaged the heroic work of the founders for reaching an consequence most might solely dream of,” Bannon replied within the LinkedIn string. In addition they accused one another of different much less savory issues like mendacity and authorized threats.
Whereas public spats between traders are entertaining, and basically meaningless, the underlying motivation is notable. The stakes are excessive to construct the next-big AI winner and now a promising startup that raised a decently sized warchest will likely be tucked into Anthropic.
Whereas the phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, Etzioni says he bought a return on his cash. Anthropic clearly needed these researchers (maybe — particularly — with one other of them at Meta).
Nonetheless, Etzioni informed GeekWire that he stays bummed. “I’m happy to have gotten a constructive return however clearly upset that after just a bit over a 12 months with a lot traction, and such a incredible staff, we’re principally chucking up the sponge,” he mentioned.
The founders becoming a member of Anthropic, nevertheless, seem completely satisfied, in response to CEO’s Ehsani’s LinkedIn submit. “The alternatives had been clear: we might construct independently and work towards the identical imaginative and prescient as two separate variations of it, or be a part of forces with an unimaginable staff and speed up that imaginative and prescient into actuality. The choice grew to become a straightforward selection,” she mentioned of becoming a member of Anthropic.
