According to CoinDesk: In their case against FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors have advised the court to prevent mention of artificial intelligence firm Anthropic's recent fundraising. FTX, which held a $500 million stake in Anthropic last year, stands to benefit significantly from the firm's financial activities.
The department has been reviewing potential subjects that could arise during witness testimonies in Bankman-Fried's trial. While several matters have been agreed upon, a point of contention is the possible mention of the Anthropic fundraising initiative. The DoJ alleges that the $500 million investment made into Anthropic in 2022 had originated from customer funds.
The recent court filing mentioned that "Evidence regarding the current value of the defendant’s investments could only be used to support the argument that FTX customers, or other victims, will ultimately be made whole." This statement references an argument, deemed invalid by the court, that has been attempted previously by Bankman-Fried's defense.
Charges against the defendant include wire fraud stemming from misappropriated FTX customer deposits used for investments and other expenditures. The DoJ voiced their stance in the filing, stating the profitability of the investments borne of these funds is irrelevant, also denying it to be a defense if the defendant had invested the stolen funds in the hope of achieving a high return that could be used for payback.
Further developments surrounding Anthropic include a potential $4 billion agreement with Amazon and an ongoing effort to raise an additional $2 billion. These details, along with FTX's significant stake in the firm, were reported by Bloomberg last week. It was also known that the company's bankruptcy trustee hasn't yet sold the stake.
Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of advisory firm 117 partners, described the fundraising news as a "fantastic turn of events for FTX creditors" in an interaction with CoinDesk.
