SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and AI company Anthropic have announced plans to direct portions of their companies’ equity toward public benefit as scrutiny grows over artificial intelligence’s impact on society.
Musk said Monday that he would give one share in SpaceX to every child in the United States next year. The announcement came after Anthropic said it would commit 5% of its equity to a fund that will make donations for the “public good.”
“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many,” Musk wrote in a social media post.
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He had previously responded to Anthropic’s public-benefit fund announcement by writing, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public. This is what I will be doing.”
Anthropic said its proposed fund would be established as a wholly owned limited liability company and receive an additional 2% of the company’s shares, at the board’s discretion, for every 50% increase in its value above a baseline that has yet to be disclosed.
The company said the structure would give it greater flexibility to scale donations for the benefit of humanity. The developer of Claude also said shares held by its Public Benefit Fund would not be used for lobbying or political donations in the United States or abroad.
The announcement comes ahead of Anthropic’s much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The offering is expected to value the company at more than $1 trillion. SpaceX reportedly raised $85.7 billion in its June IPO, setting a record for the largest public offering in history.
Details on how SpaceX shares would be distributed to children across the United States have not been disclosed.
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The announcements come as AI companies face growing scrutiny over the technology’s effects on employment, the environment and society. Companies across industries, particularly in the technology sector, have cut thousands of jobs while investing in AI, with many citing efficiency gains from its adoption.
Research published by the International Monetary Fund in 2024 estimated that nearly 40% of jobs worldwide would be affected by AI, with the figure rising to about 60% in advanced economies.
Anthropic said it would provide more details in the coming months about the fund’s governance, structure and the valuation thresholds that could increase its ownership stake. The company also plans to publish a public-benefit report outlining progress toward its mission.