In many ways this adds to Anthropic’s motivation to IPO.
This deal is built around Anthropic surviving. The $1.5B comes in installments, and counsel’s fees are paid in step with those installments.
The class is now effectively Anthropic’s creditor, with a direct financial interest in the company staying solvent through the payment schedule.
Civil suits compensate and the one outcome guaranteed to leave authors worse off was a verdict big enough to kill the payer.