Anthropic, a leading AI safety and research company, has announced its acquisition of Vercept, a Seattle-based AI startup developing sophisticated computer-use agents. The move signals a clear focus on talent acquisition as the AI arms race intensifies among tech giants.
As part of the deal, Vercept’s product, Vy—a cloud-based agent capable of operating a remote Apple MacBook—will be shut down on March 25. This acquisition follows Anthropic’s purchase of the coding agent engine Bun in December, further strengthening its team to scale its Claude family of AI models.
A Strategic Acqui-Hire
The acquisition is widely seen as an “acqui-hire,” prioritizing Vercept’s highly sought-after team over its existing product. Key members, including CEO Kiana Ehsani, Luca Weihs, and Ross Girshick, will join Anthropic to accelerate its vision.
The move underscores the fierce competition for top AI researchers. Notably, Vercept co-founder Matt Deitke is not joining Anthropic, having been famously poached by Meta last year for its Superintelligence Lab with a reported $250 million salary package.
In a LinkedIn post, Vercept CEO Kiana Ehsani framed the decision as a strategic alignment. “The choices were clear: we could build independently and work toward the same vision as two separate versions of it, or join forces with an incredible team and accelerate that vision into reality. The decision became an easy choice,” she wrote.
Star-Studded Backing and Investor Discord
Vercept had attracted significant attention and capital, raising a total of $50 million. The startup, a graduate of Seattle’s AI-focused incubator A12, boasted an impressive list of angel investors, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi.
However, the acquisition was met with public disapproval from Vercept co-founder and investor Oren Etzioni, the renowned founder of the Allen Institute for AI. Etzioni expressed his disappointment on LinkedIn, stating, “After a little bit more than a year, Vercept is throwing in the towel and giving their customers 30 days to get off the platform. Sad.”
This sparked a public disagreement with lead investor Seth Bannon, highlighting the high-pressure environment surrounding AI startups and the immense value placed on elite talent. While Etzioni confirmed he received a positive return on his investment, his comments reveal a frustration that a promising independent venture was absorbed into a larger entity.
What This Means for MENA’s AI Scene
This acquisition serves as a critical case study for the MENA region’s burgeoning AI ecosystem. As global giants like Anthropic, Meta, and Google engage in aggressive “acqui-hires,” the value of top-tier AI talent is skyrocketing. For MENA founders, this highlights the importance of building strong, defensible technology while also creating an environment that can retain premier talent against lucrative offers from abroad.
Furthermore, the consolidation trend in the global AI market presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While it makes direct competition more difficult, it also validates the market for innovative AI solutions, potentially creating attractive exit opportunities for successful MENA-based AI startups. VCs in the region will be closely watching these dynamics, weighing the potential for building standalone regional champions against the strategic value of early, talent-focused acquisitions by global players.
About Anthropic
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company dedicated to building reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Founded by former senior members of OpenAI, the company is known for its family of large language models, Claude, and its constitutional AI approach, which aims to align AI behavior with human values.
Source: TechCrunch
