Anthropic has acquired Seattle-based AI startup Vercept as it expands its work around autonomous AI agents and developer tools tied to its Claude platform. Vercept built systems designed to handle more complex agent-driven computing tasks, including its cloud-based product Vy, which allowed AI agents to operate a remote Apple MacBook. As part of the deal, Vercept will shut down Vy later this month.
Vercept emerged from the Allen Institute for AI’s startup ecosystem and became one of the more closely watched AI startups in Seattle. CEO Kiana Ehsani said the company raised about $50 million from investors, including Fifty Years partner Seth Bannon, and also attracted backing from angel investors such as Eric Schmidt, Jeff Dean, Kyle Vogt, and Arash Ferdowsi. Anthropic said Vercept co-founders Kiana Ehsani, Luca Weihs, and Ross Girshick will join the company as part of the acquisition.
The deal adds another startup team to Anthropic as large AI companies continue competing for talent and products tied to agentic computing. In a statement, Ehsani said the company saw the acquisition as a way to move its vision forward more quickly by joining forces with a larger AI player, “The choices were clear: we could build independently and work toward the same vision as two separate versions of it, or join forces with an incredible team and accelerate that vision into reality.”
