Home / Business and Economy / Anthropic Buys AI Agent Tech Vercept
Anthropic Buys AI Agent Tech Vercept
26 Feb
Summary
- Anthropic acquired AI startup Vercept, known for its computer-use agent Vy.
- Vercept had raised $50 million from notable investors including Eric Schmidt.
- A public dispute arose between Vercept investors over the acquisition's handling.
Anthropic announced its acquisition of Vercept, an AI startup with significant ties to Seattle's tech community. This move follows Anthropic's December acquisition of Bun to bolster its Claude Code product.
Vercept's innovations included Vy, a cloud-based agent capable of operating a remote Apple Macbook, positioning it among startups redefining personal computing for the AI era. The acquisition means Vercept's product will be discontinued on March 25.
The startup was incubated at Seattle's A12, an AI-focused incubator originating from the Allen Institute for AI. Vercept's co-founders, formerly researchers at the Allen Institute, included Matt Deitke, who previously garnered attention for a substantial salary negotiation with Meta.
Vercept CEO Kiana Ehsani stated the company raised a total of $50 million, with A12's Seth Bannon leading the investment. Angel investors featured notable names like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Google DeepMind's Jeff Dean.
While some Vercept co-founders, including Ehsani and Luca Weihs, are joining Anthropic, not all are. Co-founder Matt Deitke is not joining, nor is Oren Etzioni, a founding leader of the Allen Institute for AI and an early Vercept supporter.
Etzioni expressed disappointment with the acquisition, calling it a "sad" outcome after only a year, despite the team joining Anthropic. He publicly engaged in a dispute with lead investor Seth Bannon, accusing him of responsibility for suboptimal business decisions.
Despite the investor disagreement, Etzioni confirmed a positive return on his investment, though he remains disappointed by the startup's closure. The founders joining Anthropic view the acquisition as an opportunity to accelerate their vision.
