Factbox-Anthropic's public benefit fund and how it compares with other big philanthropic efforts

Oct 20 (Reuters) - Anthropic said it would set aside 5% of its shares for a new public benefit fund, as debate grows over how the wealth created by artificial intelligence (AI) should be shared.

The pledge comes during a wider political debate about who should benefit from AI's gains. Months earlier, US Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that would give the public a 50% stake in the largest AI companies in the United States.

Here is what is known about Anthropic's fund and how it compares with other large charitable efforts started by major companies, their current or former leaders, or their families.

ANTHROPIC PUBLIC BENEFIT FUND

Anthropic said in a blog post on Sunday that its Public Benefit Fund could support efforts such as donations to nonprofit groups, direct payments to certain groups of people, and programs to deal with AI's effects on jobs and the labor market.

The company behind Claude said the planned fund would be set up as a limited liability company fully owned by Anthropic. The fund could also receive another 2% of Anthropic's shares, at the board's choice, each time the company's value rises by 50% above a starting value that has not yet been disclosed.

OPENAI FOUNDATION

OpenAI completed a restructuring in October 2025. As a result, its nonprofit, renamed the OpenAI Foundation, held a 26% stake in the for-profit company, worth about $130 billion at the time.

The foundation also has a warrant that allows it to receive more shares if OpenAI Group's share price increases more than tenfold over 15 years.

OpenAI said in a blog post at the time that the company's success would increase the value of the nonprofit's stake. The nonprofit would use that value to pay for its charitable work.

The foundation said its first priority would be a $25 billion commitment in two areas: improving health and curing diseases, and developing technical ways to make AI more resilient. This builds on the $50 million OpenAI pledged in July 2025 to support nonprofit groups and organizations focused on its mission.

GATES FOUNDATION

Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, started the Gates Foundation in 2000. During its first 25 years, the foundation invested more than $102.3 billion in global health and development, education in the United States, and helping people improve their financial situation.

In May 2025, Gates said the foundation would spend another $200 billion over the next 20 years before closing in December 2045.

Until 2045, the foundation will focus on three goals: preventing mothers and babies from dying of causes that can be prevented, helping the next generation grow up without deadly infectious diseases, and helping hundreds of millions of people escape poverty.

The foundation plans to give out a record $9 billion in 2026. About 70% of its budget will go toward the first two goals, which cover its work on global health.

WARREN BUFFETT'S PLEDGE

In 2006, famous investor Warren Buffett promised to donate nearly all of his Berkshire Hathaway shares to charitable foundations.

Since then, he has given away more than half of his shares. These donations include more than $47 billion to the Gates Foundation and over $17 billion to four charities run by his family.

However, he stopped donating to the Gates Foundation after reports about interactions between Bill Gates and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light. This ended a charitable partnership that had lasted two decades.

Buffett said he plans to give 99.5% of his remaining wealth to a charitable trust managed by his daughter and two sons after his death.

After he dies, his children will have about 10 years to give away his remaining wealth. They must all agree on which charitable causes should receive the money.

ELON MUSK'S PLEDGE

After Anthropic announced its public benefit fund on Sunday, Elon Musk promised to give one SpaceX share to "every kid in America." "Yes, giving shares, which are stakes in the future economy, directly to the people is the way," the SpaceX and Tesla CEO wrote in a post on X.

Earlier this year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband also promised to give a share of their SpaceX stock to each of more than 2 million children through the Trump Accounts investment initiative.

MACKENZIE SCOTT'S PLEDGE

MacKenzie Scott received about 4% of Amazon's shares in her 2019 divorce from company founder Jeff Bezos. The shares were worth about $36 billion at the time.

She signed the Giving Pledge soon after promising to give away at least half of her Amazon wealth during her lifetime. Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates started the Giving Pledge to encourage the world's wealthiest people to donate most of their fortunes.

Since then, she has donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood in 2022 and more than $4 billion to food banks and emergency aid funds during the coronavirus pandemic. She has also given billions of dollars to causes such as racial equality, LGBTQ rights and climate change. According to a letter from Yield Giving published last year, Scott gave away $7.1 billion in 2025.

FORD FOUNDATION

Henry Ford's son Edsel established the Ford Foundation in 1936 with an initial gift of $25,000. It grew from a family-backed charity in Michigan into one of the world's largest foundations. Its endowment, or money set aside to support its work, is now worth about $18 billion. In 2024, the 90-year-old foundation awarded $768 million through 2,288 grants. Its work aims to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values and encourage cooperation between countries.

In 2015, it launched BUILD, a five-year, $1 billion investment to help 350 social justice organizations around the world become stronger and more financially secure over the long term as they worked to address inequality. The foundation renewed BUILD in 2021 with another $1 billion.

LILLY ENDOWMENT

The Lilly Endowment was established in 1937 by J.K. Lilly and his sons, who gave shares in their family's pharmaceutical company. Its first donation was 17,500 shares worth $262,500.

During its first 88 years, the endowment gave nearly $21.3 billion in grants to 11,651 charitable organizations. It awarded $3.85 billion in grants in 2025, while its assets grew to nearly $106 billion.

Based in Indianapolis, the foundation focuses on education, community development and religion, with a special commitment to Indiana.

NOVO NORDISK FOUNDATION

The Novo Nordisk Foundation was established in Denmark. Its roots go back to August Krogh, H.C. Hagedorn and August Kongsted, who used profits from insulin production to support scientific and humanitarian work.

The current foundation took shape in 1989, when foundations linked to Nordisk and Novo were combined after the merger that created Novo Nordisk.

In 2025, it awarded a record 11.8 billion Danish crowns ($1.77 billion), or about 1.6 billion euros, through 2,206 grants and charitable investments. This was up from 10.1 billion Danish crowns in 2024.

Its funding mainly supports research and projects in human health, infectious diseases, diseases affecting the heart and metabolism, the shift toward environmentally friendly practices, and sustainable agriculture.

($1 = 6.6526 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)