Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has acquired Seattle-based AI startup Vercept and confirmed plans to discontinue its flagship product, bringing the young company’s independent operations to an end barely a year after launch.
As part of the acquisition, Vercept’s cloud-based AI tool will be switched off on March 25, with customers given 30 days to migrate away from the platform. The startup had developed technology that allowed AI agents to carry out complex, multi-step tasks by remotely operating a live Apple MacBook environment, mimicking human interaction with real software applications.
Brandspur Brand News understands that the deal forms part of Anthropic’s broader strategy to deepen its “computer use” capabilities, enabling its Claude AI models to directly interact with operating systems, applications, and digital workflows in real-world environments rather than confined test settings.
Vercept was founded by former researchers from the Allen Institute for AI and spun out of A12, a Seattle-based artificial intelligence incubator. Despite its short lifespan, the startup attracted significant attention in the AI ecosystem, raising about $50 million in funding from a high-profile group of investors.
The company’s investor list included Eric Schmidt, former chief executive of Google, Jeff Dean of Google DeepMind, Kyle Vogt, founder of Cruise, and Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox. A12 co-founder Seth Bannon led the investment round and held a board seat at Vercept.
Not all members of Vercept’s founding team will be moving to Anthropic. The companies confirmed that Kiana Ehsani, Luca Weihs, and Ross Girshick will join Anthropic, while other team members will remain outside the deal. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, although early investors indicated the transaction delivered a positive return.
The shutdown sparked debate within the AI research community. Former Vercept co-founder Oren Etzioni, also the founding head of the Allen Institute for AI and now a professor at the University of Washington, publicly criticised the outcome, describing the closure as disappointing given the company’s early traction. His remarks triggered a public exchange with A12’s Seth Bannon, who defended the founders and the decision to sell.
Anthropic said the acquisition strengthens its technical bench as it accelerates development of AI systems capable of operating inside real software environments. The company recently highlighted major gains in its Claude models’ performance on computer-use benchmarks and has made similar talent-driven acquisitions in recent months.
The move also follows heightened competition across the AI sector, where leading firms are racing to build agents that can autonomously navigate computers, write code, manage workflows, and complete tasks traditionally handled by humans. For Vercept’s customers, however, the focus now shifts to transitioning away before the platform goes offline next month.
