DOJ Urges Judge To Exclude Sam Bankman-Fried's Anthropic AI Investment Valuation In Trial

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally requested Judge Lewis Kaplan to prevent FTX FTT/USD founder Sam Bankman-Fried from discussing or introducing evidence related to the current value of his investment in Anthropic AI during his trial.

The DOJ's move comes as it continues to assert that the funds used for this investment, approximately $500 million in 2022, were illicitly sourced from FTX customers.

This news is particularly relevant in the growing digital asset industry, a topic that will be extensively discussed at Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 14.

The government's letter to the judge highlighted that while they have reached agreements with the defense on several issues, the potential discussion about the current valuation of Anthropic remains contentious.

The recent fundraising efforts by Anthropic, which involved tech giants like Amazon AMZN and Google GOOGL, have valued the company between $20 billion and $30 billion.

This has led to speculation that such a valuation could enhance the potential recovery for FTX customers in the event of bankruptcy.

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However, the DOJ argues that the current value of the Anthropic investment is irrelevant to the charges against Bankman-Fried.

The core allegation is that he committed wire fraud by misappropriating FTX customer deposits for personal investments and other expenditures.

The DOJ emphasizes that even if some investments were profitable, it doesn't negate the initial fraudulent intent.

Furthermore, the DOJ's letter pointed out that venture capital investments, like those in Anthropic and even FTX, are based on future revenue growth projections, which are inherently speculative.

For example, they mentioned FTX's previous valuations of around $18 billion in 2021 and approximately $32 billion in 2022, despite its worthless shares.

The DOJ stated it believes that the primary focus should remain on whether Bankman-Fried committed the alleged fraud, irrespective of the potential recovery for FTX customers.

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