Prosecutors in the ongoing trial of Sam Bankman-Fried have submitted a request to the judge, urging him to disallow the defendant from presenting the current value of FTX’s $500 million investment in Anthropic, a startup artificial intelligence company. This move comes as the government alleges that Bankman-Fried utilized stolen funds from FTX customers to invest in Anthropic back in April 2022.
In a recent court filing, US attorney Damian Williams has asked Judge Kaplan, who is presiding over Bankman-Fried’s trial, to reject any evidence or arguments pertaining to the value of the defendant’s investments. The crux of the government’s argument revolves around the belief that introducing evidence regarding the current value of FTX’s $500 million Anthropic investment would be irrelevant to the case. They claim that this evidence would only serve to strengthen the defense’s argument that FTX customers and other victims will eventually be compensated, an argument that the court has already deemed impermissible. The court’s previous order in a similar case has been cited as supporting this perspective.
It is worth noting that Anthropic, a rival of OpenAI, has recently revealed plans to secure additional funding from major investors such as Amazon and Google. Reports have suggested that the company is eyeing a valuation between $20 billion and $30 billion, which could significantly boost the value of Bankman-Fried’s investment. This development has led to speculation that the increased valuation might improve the prospects of recovery for FTX customers and other parties involved in the FTX bankruptcy proceedings.
The prosecution is requesting the judge to block the presentation of the investment value in the trial, with the aim of eliminating any potential for undue prejudice, confusion, or wasted time. Thus far, the trial has seen little success for the defendant, and crucial witness Caroline Ellison has yet to take the stand.
