--- title: "FTX Made a Very Smart Investment That May Be Able to Pay Back Its Customers" description: "FTX appears to have made a $500 million dollar investment into the buzzy AI startup Anthropic — which might spell good news for customers." date: "2023-06-06" modified: "2023-06-06" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ftx-investment-pay-back-customers" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "ai" - "ftx" - "sam bankman-fried" - "the digest" --- # FTX Made a Very Smart Investment That May Be Able to Pay Back Its Customers ![FTX appears to have made a $500 million dollar investment into the buzzy AI startup Anthropic — which might spell good news for customers.]() *FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the US Federal Court in New York on February 16, 2023. - A federal judge ordered Sam Bankman-Fried back to court on Thursday after learning he used a virtual private network, or VPN to access the internet. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) \Image: TIMOTHY A. CLARY via Getty Images\* ## SAIm I Am Though disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried generally didn't exactly handle [his customers' money]() well — [or, according to some former coworkers, legally]() — there may actually be one *very* bright spot on the [defunct crypto exchange's balance sheet](): a massive investment into a buzzy AI startup which, [according to new reporting from *Semafor*](), may ultimately spell good news for former FTX customers. Per *Semafor*, FTX appears to have made a $500 million dollar investment into Anthropic, an OpenAI rival that [made waves back in January]() when its model was reported to have passed a blindly-graded George Mason University law and economics exam with flying colors (a claim, it's worth noting, that was made weeks before the OpenAI-built [GPT-4's test-taking prowess]() was publicly known.) And FTX isn't the only high-profile Anthropic investor. Seemingly in a move to level the playing field in its battle with the financially tethered Microsoft and OpenAI, a little company known as Google, among other investors, [invested $300 million into the AI firm back in February](). As a result of those cash infusions, in addition to the buzz around the AI market, Anthropic's stock has been headed way up. As it stands, the AI firm is reportedly valued at a staggering $4.6 billion – and per *Semafor*, FTX's major stake in the high-dollar firm could ultimately provide bankruptcy trustees with a way to pay FTX's slighted customers back. ## Uncertainty But that said, as *Semafor* points out, it might not be that simple. When more traditional companies, which tend to have more traditional-slash-real assets — real estate, bonds, and more of the like — go bankrupt, there's a fairly standardized, precedented rulebook for bankruptcy proceedings. Those proceedings often include some kind of "prepackaged" bankruptcy strategy designed to eke as much worth out of an asset's value as possible while also attempting to make customers whole. FTX, alternatively, as an unregulated business within an unregulated industry, reportedly didn't have any such plan, and its assets are generally [pretty far from traditional](). And to that end, it's also worth noting that the AI industry is still at the beginning of a gold rush. Anthropic has a stronger footing in the market than most, but whether it can stick it out with a multi-billion dollar valuation in the long run remains to be seen. Still, [FTX customers]() haven't had good news in a while — and maybe, just this one time, a Bankman-Fried financial decision could actually pay off for them. Or at the very least, pay them *back*. **More on FTX:** [*SBF and Friends Apparently Joked about Their "Tendency to Lose Track of Millions of Dollars in*]()[ *Assets"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()