tech
February 26, 2026
Anthropic acquires computer-use AI startup Vercept after Meta poached one of its founders
Seattle-based Vercept developed complex agentic tools, including a computer-use agent that could complete tasks inside applications like a person with a laptop would.
TL;DR
- Anthropic has acquired AI startup Vercept, which created advanced agentic tools like its product Vy.
- Vercept was part of Seattle's AI incubator A12, with founders having roots at the Allen Institute for AI.
- The acquisition brings Vercept's team and technology to Anthropic, aiming to scale Claude Code.
- Vercept CEO Kiana Ehsani and co-founders Luca Weihs and Ross Girshick will join Anthropic.
- Co-founder Matt Deitke, who previously negotiated a large salary from Meta, is not joining Anthropic.
- Investor Oren Etzioni expressed disappointment with the acquisition outcome and had a public dispute with lead investor Seth Bannon.
- Vercept had raised a total of $50 million, with angel investors including Eric Schmidt and Jeff Dean.
- Vercept's product will be shut down on March 25th.
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