Elon Musk promises SpaceX share for ‘every kid in America’ as tech firms fight AI unease

Elon Musk and Anthropic will give away billions of dollars' worth of shares in an effort to reduce public fears about artificial intelligence.

Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, said it would put at least 5 per cent of its shares into a fund designed to help the public. The fund aims to address concerns about the effects of AI. Anthropic is planning to sell shares to the public for the first time. This could value the company at up to $1 trillion, which would make the fund worth $50 billion.

The company did not say how the money would be spent. It ruled out using it for political lobbying and said it had not yet decided exactly what to do. It said it might consider making large donations to traditional nonprofit groups or giving money directly to certain groups of people.

After Anthropic made its announcement, Mr Musk said he would give some of his shares to people. He did not directly say that his plan was meant to change people's views about AI or that it was a response to Anthropic's announcement.

“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” Mr Musk wrote on his social media platform, X. “This will be the first of many.”

When this article was published, SpaceX shares were worth just under $150 each. Their value had risen by more than 2 per cent after Mr Musk made his announcement. There are about 72 million children in America, so the giveaway would be worth more than $10 billion. However, this is only a small part of Mr Musk's total of 4.8 billion shares.

Anthropic gave fewer details about the value of its fund. It said it would first set aside 5 per cent of its shares. It would then add another 2 per cent for every 50 per cent increase in the company's value above an agreed starting level.

“Because of the way the Fund is structured, the more Anthropic grows, the larger the share of the company that can be dedicated expressly to the public good,” it said.

“Tech companies often give their top executives bigger rewards as their companies grow. We are instead directing that ownership to benefit the public.”

Anthropic said it would share more details about how the fund would work, including the company value levels that would trigger extra shares, in the coming months. It also promised to publish a report showing its progress in helping the public.

Anthropic was already set up as a public benefit corporation. This type of company is meant to show that it aims to improve the world as well as make money for its shareholders. However, this structure does not require the company to carry out any particular activities.

Anthropic said most of its work to achieve this goal currently happens within the company. It pointed to its efforts to make AI safer, research new ways to treat disease, and offer researchers cheaper access to Claude. The company said the new fund would give it more freedom and resources to work towards its goals in new ways.