Anthropic acquires computer-use AI startup Vercept after Meta poached one of its founders

Anthropic announced its acquisition of Seattle-based AI startup Vercept, marking the Claude maker's second strategic talent grab in three months following its December purchase of coding agent engine Bun. Vercept had developed Vy, a cloud-based computer-use agent capable of operating a remote MacBook, representing the growing frontier of AI agents that can directly interact with and control computer interfaces. The startup was a graduate of the prestigious AI incubator A12, spawned from the Allen Institute for AI, and had raised $50 million from notable investors including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and DeepMind's Jeff Dean. However, the acquisition comes after Vercept lost co-founder Matt Deitke to Meta last year in a headline-grabbing move that reportedly included a $250 million compensation package to join Meta's Superintelligence Lab.

As part of the deal, Anthropic is bringing on Vercept co-founders Kiana Ehsani, Luca Weihs, and Ross Girshick while shutting down the Vy product on March 25. The acquisition sparked public controversy among investors, with Allen Institute founding leader Oren Etzioni—another Vercept co-founder not joining Anthropic—criticizing the startup's leadership decisions on LinkedIn, prompting a heated exchange with lead investor Seth Bannon. While terms weren't disclosed, Etzioni confirmed he received a return on his investment. The move highlights the intense competition for top AI agent talent, particularly as companies like Anthropic race to develop more capable systems that can perform complex, multi-step computer tasks—a capability seen as crucial for the next generation of AI assistants.