FTX has been granted permission to sell shares of the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

BlockBeats News reported on February 23 that bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been granted permission by a US judge to sell its stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Wilmington, Delaware approved the proposal for FTX to sell its stake, following a compromise reached in court between FTX and a group of customers who opposed the sale. FTX invested $500 million in Anthropic in 2021, and currently holds a 7.84% stake in the company. The company seeks to sell its stake as part of its efforts to liquidate assets and repay customers who lost access to their accounts when the company went bankrupt in 2022. FTX lawyer Andy Dietderich stated at a court hearing on Thursday that FTX plans to sell its Anthropic stake in a profitable manner, and will retain flexibility to sell the stake at the "best and appropriate time". Due to increased interest in artificial intelligence and large language models, the value of Anthropic shares has significantly increased since FTX's acquisition and investment in 2021. FTX expects to fully repay all customers, although the repayment amount will be based on cryptocurrency prices at the time of FTX's November 2022 bankruptcy filing, rather than the current higher value of cryptocurrency assets. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from customers and is expected to appeal his conviction on March 28.