SBF’s lawyers ask court to allow introduction of Anthropic evidence

Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers asked Judge Kaplan in a letter to allow the defense to use evidence of its venture investment into Anthropic from April 2022.

In a motion filed on Oct. 10, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s lawyers requested that the court allow for the introduction of evidence supporting positive investment outcomes, such as an investment in the artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic. 

This comes after United States prosecutors filed a request on Oct. 9 to bar SBF’s legal team from making any arguments related to FTX customer funds recovery through the Anthropic investment.

Bankman-Fried made a $500 million investment in the AI startup in April 2022 before the exchange’s collapse. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to give evidence that the investment was made using fraudulent funds from customer deposits.

However, lawyers attest that the government’s position “miscasts” the relevance of the evidence and “respectfully” asked the court to deny the government’s motion.

They continued to point out that the government had raised Alameda’s venture investments multiple times during the trial and argued they were “risky” and “losing money.”

“In response, the defense should be permitted to introduce evidence of positive investment outcomes (i.e. Anthropic) of such venture investments…”

Anthropic has recently received major investments from e-commerce giant Amazon totaling $4 billion and $100 million from South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom.

Related: Sam Bankman-Fried ordered ‘special privileges’ for Alameda account on FTX — Gary Wang

SBF’s lawyers said the defense has no objection to the court providing an “appropriate limiting instruction” regarding how Anthropic investment evidence could be used. 

The second week of the criminal trial of the former FTX CEO continues on Oct. 11. SBF faces seven charges of conspiracy and fraud tied to the collapse of FTX, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Cointelegraph reporters are on the ground in New York covering the trial. As the saga unfolds, check here for the latest updates.

Magazine: SBF trial underway, Mashinsky trial set, Binance’s market share shrinks: Hodler’s Digest, Oct. 1–7