Anthropic has officially become the first AI startup to join the Frontier carbon removal collective, contributing to a significant new funding round of $915 million. This boost brings total pledges to Frontier to $1.8 billion, effectively doubling the previous amount. Frontier has already contracted nearly $700 million for over 50 projects aimed at removing 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Founded by tech giants such as Google, Stripe, and Shopify, Frontier was established to assist companies in meeting their climate goals. While many of its contributors seek to achieve net-zero emissions within the next two decades, they often face challenges in eliminating certain emissions, such as those from air travel. Anthropic's involvement marks its first foray into climate initiatives, although it has not yet released a sustainability report.
The new funding is expected to enhance Frontier’s role in the carbon removal sector. Frontier aims to implement stricter scrutiny for future funding, prioritizing projects capable of removing at least one gigaton of CO2 annually. Moving forward, new contracts will have terms of approximately eight to ten years, ensuring a focused approach to carbon removal.