Elon Musk and Anthropic Pledge Public Share Giveaways Amid AI Scrutiny
Anthropic will commit 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund, while Musk says he will give a SpaceX share to every American child next year
By AXY Business Desk ·
Key points
- Musk said he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, calling it the first of many.
- Anthropic pledged to commit 5% of its shares to a Public Benefit Fund, with another 2% possible at its board's discretion.
- Anthropic said none of the fund's shares would be used for lobbying or political donations in the US or overseas.
- Anthropic is laying the groundwork for a potential stock market listing that could value it at more than $1tn.
- Anthropic told investors its revenue rose 45% to $16.8bn in the three months to the end of September.
Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX and artificial intelligence firm Anthropic have both pledged large share giveaways, as the AI industry faces mounting scrutiny over its potential impact on humanity, society and jobs. Musk said on Monday that he would give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, and described it as the first of many such gifts. Anthropic, which develops the Claude chatbot, said it would commit 5% of its shares to a fund that will make donations for the "public good".
What Musk Announced
In a post on social media, Musk wrote: "Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many." The announcement came after Anthropic's fund pledge, and Musk responded to that news with a suggestion of his own: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public. This is what I will be doing." Details of how each American child would be handed a share in SpaceX have not been disclosed, so it is not yet clear what form the gifts will take, how many shares will be involved, or how recipients would access them.
For readers less familiar with the terminology, a share is a unit of ownership in a company, and a shareholder is entitled to a portion of that company's value and, in many cases, its future profits. Giving shares directly is different from making a cash donation. A share gift would transfer part of the value of the company itself to the recipient, which is why the mechanics matter. Musk is the founder of SpaceX, the aerospace company, and the source material notes that SpaceX owns xAI, another artificial intelligence company. The pledge therefore links a major private space company to the AI sector at a time when both are attracting intense public attention.
What Anthropic Pledged
Anthropic said it would put 5% of its shares into a Public Benefit Fund that will make donations for the "public good". The company also said the fund could receive another 2% of its shares at the discretion of its board of directors, meaning the board would decide whether to add that stake. Anthropic has said that none of the shares held in the fund would be used for lobbying or political donations, either in the United States or overseas.
The name points to the corporate structure Anthropic has adopted. A public benefit corporation is a type of company, recognised in several US states, whose directors are permitted to weigh the interests of society and the public alongside the financial interests of shareholders. A public benefit fund is a separate pool of assets intended to be used for charitable or public purposes. Together, these arrangements are designed to show that a company is committed to goals beyond maximising profit.
The lobbying restriction stands out because AI companies are closely watched by lawmakers and regulators in several countries. Lobbying refers to efforts to influence government decisions, usually through meetings with officials, political campaigning and funding of advocacy. By ruling out the use of fund shares for such activity, Anthropic is seeking to separate its public giving from its policy engagement. The source material does not say how the company's wider lobbying activity is handled outside the fund.
The Stock Market Backdrop
Both pledges come at a time when the companies are preparing for or have already undertaken major stock market moves. Anthropic is laying the groundwork for a potential blockbuster stock market listing, which could value the firm at more than $1tn (£750bn). An initial public offering, or IPO, is the first time a private company sells its shares to the public on a stock exchange. Once listed, a company's share price is set by trading, and its value can rise or fall daily.
SpaceX has already gone through this process. The source material reports that SpaceX set the record for the biggest IPO in history in June, raising $85.7bn. That benchmark gives context to the scale of the ambitions now being discussed for Anthropic, and it shows that investor appetite for large technology listings remains strong.
Observers may view the timing of the giveaways as significant. Public pledges of this kind can build goodwill with customers, regulators, employees and the wider public just as companies prepare to ask investors for money. Analysts may also assess whether such commitments affect how a company is valued, although the source material does not provide any analysis from market experts on that point.
Revenue Growth and the Cost of AI
Anthropic has also been sharing financial information with potential backers. Last week, the company told prospective investors that its revenue surged by 45% to $16.8bn (£12.6bn) in the three months to the end of September. Revenue is the total money a company takes in from sales before costs are deducted, so it is not the same as profit. The figure shows how quickly demand for the company's products has grown, but it does not indicate how much the company earned after expenses.
That distinction is central to the AI sector. Companies in this field spend billions of dollars developing their technology and building infrastructure, meaning the data centres and computing hardware needed to run large AI models. As the source material notes, AI firms, including Anthropic, are seeking to show that they can generate large profits despite these heavy costs. Investors will be looking closely at whether revenue growth can eventually translate into sustained earnings.
Why the Pledges Matter to the Public
The source material describes the pledges as coming while Big Tech firms are under pressure over the potential impact of AI on humanity. The AI industry faces fears about safety, its effect on society and the possibility that it could reduce employment in some sectors. For ordinary people, these concerns are practical: they relate to jobs, income, the concentration of wealth in a small number of companies, and how powerful new technologies are governed.
Giveaways of shares or fund assets could be read as an attempt to show that companies are sharing the rewards of technological growth more widely. Whether such gifts meaningfully address public concerns is a question that will depend on their size, how they are distributed and what conditions are attached. The source material does not indicate how the fund would decide which causes to support, and it does not provide an assessment of the effect any of the pledges would have.
What to Watch Next
Several questions remain open. The first is how Musk's pledge to give SpaceX shares to American children will be structured, since details have not yet been disclosed and the gifts are not due until next year. The second is whether Anthropic's board will decide to add the additional 2% of shares to its Public Benefit Fund. The third is the timing and scale of the company's potential stock market listing, which would determine when investors can trade its shares.
Reaction from lawmakers, regulators and campaign groups may also shape the debate. Because both companies operate in areas that governments are watching closely, public statements and policy responses could follow. For now, the pledges have set out ambitious public commitments, but the practical details that will determine their impact are still to come.
Questions and answers
What did Elon Musk pledge to give away?
Musk said that next year he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America. He added that this would be the first of many, but details of how the shares would be handed out have not been disclosed.
How much of its shares is Anthropic giving to its public benefit fund?
Anthropic said it would commit 5% of its shares to a Public Benefit Fund for donations for the public good. The fund could also receive another 2% of the company's shares at its board's discretion.
Will Anthropic's fund be used for lobbying or political donations?
Anthropic said none of the shares held in its Public Benefit Fund would be used for lobbying or political donations in the United States or overseas.
Why are these share pledges happening now?
The pledges come as Anthropic lays the groundwork for a potential stock market listing that could value the firm at more than $1tn, and as the AI industry faces scrutiny over safety and its impact on society and jobs.
Topics: Elon Musk, SpaceX, Anthropic, xAI, Claude, Initial public offering, Artificial intelligence, Public benefit corporation
Sources: BBC Business