Anthropic and Musk unveil rival plans for AI-era philanthropy
Anthropic will commit 5 per cent of its shares to a new public-good fund, while Elon Musk pledges one SpaceX share to every child in America. The duelling approaches highlight a split over how to distribute AI-driven wealth amid rising public scrutiny.
Anthropic and Elon Musk have laid out sharply different blueprints for sharing some of the spoils of the AI boom, a split that may shape how the technology’s financial windfall reaches the public.
The creator of Claude models said over the weekend it is committing 5 per cent of its shares to an unprecedented new fund for the “public good,” while Musk pledged on Monday to give one SpaceX share to “every kid in America,” arguing for such direct distributions as the burgeoning sector faces public scrutiny.
Security breaches involving AI systems and warnings from industry leaders that runaway development of the technology could pose severe, even existential, risks have deepened AI safety concerns, adding to public anxiety over job losses.
While Anthropic is betting on distributing wealth through nonprofit donations and direct contributions to specific populations, Musk, the world’s richest person with a net worth of nearly US$1 trillion (HK$7.8 trillion), has said he recommends “giving the shares directly to the public.”
“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many,” Musk, who runs Anthropic rival xAI, said in a post early on Monday. He held about 6.42 billion shares in the company as of June. SpaceX shares closed up about 1 per cent on Monday.
Anthropic said its initiative will give it more flexibility and scale to make donations for the benefit of humanity. The company is planning one of the biggest IPOs in history as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that requires management to balance broader public interests with profitability goals. The flotation could value it at roughly US$2 trillion, although Reuters exclusively reported last week that some investors are weighing a lower valuation of around US$1.5 trillion. That would value a 5 per cent stake toward the fund in a range of US$75 billion to US$100 billion.
It would dwarf the still substantial potential value of Musk’s share giveaway, which would be worth roughly US$11 billion at current share prices based on US census figures showing there are 72 million children in America. “Giving shares, which are stakes in the future economy, directly to the people is the way,” Musk said.