Elon Musk’s Generous Offer
On Monday, Elon Musk made a surprising announcement: he intends to give one share of SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year.
This news came shortly after the AI firm Anthropic shared on social media that they would allocate 5% of their shares to a new “public benefit” fund.
In reaction to that post from Sunday, Musk suggested, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.”
As for SpaceX, which is slated to report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, shares closed at $146.03 last Friday.
With roughly 73 million children under 18 in the United States, Musk’s offer could potentially be valued at around $10.66 billion.
Anthropic specified that the shares destined for the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, which is a new initiative within the company, could appreciate as their value increases.
Musk didn’t clarify how exactly he plans to execute this share pledge but hinted in his post that “This will be the first of many.”
The timing of Musk and Anthropic’s announcements coincides with growing concerns among Americans regarding artificial intelligence. A recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that 64% of Americans feel AI is advancing “too fast,” whereas 27% believe it’s developing “about right,” and only 8% think it’s “too slow.”
Last month, industry leaders like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Musk himself voiced the need for a slowdown in AI development. This consensus followed the resignation of an Anthropic researcher who issued alarming warnings about the potential risks posed by the technology. However, various challenges, including competition and profit-driven motives, along with pushback from President Donald Trump, seem to impede a unified effort to manage AI’s pace.
Musk has also emerged as a significant donor in this year’s midterm elections, contributing over $276 million since July to bolster Republican representation in Congress.
Dario Amodei and the other cofounders set up Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a classification chosen to balance profit with social responsibility.
The company is gearing up for a substantial initial public offering, potentially as early as November, having submitted a confidential IPO filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission back in June.
That same month, Musk’s SpaceX went public, making him the first trillionaire. Nevertheless, since its peak shortly after the IPO, SpaceX shares have dropped by 35.3%, indicating that Musk is currently a billionaire.
