Elon Musk has pledged to give one share of his rocket company SpaceX to "every kid in America" next year, as tech giants face growing scrutiny over AI's impact on humanity.
Musk announced the giveaway on Monday, a day after artificial intelligence giant Anthropic said in a social media post that it will commit 5 per cent of its shares to a new "public benefit" fund.
Musk's Response to Anthropic
Musk had responded to Anthropic's post on Sunday, writing: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public." The following day, the billionaire announced his own pledge on social media, adding that it "will be the first of many". He did not provide further details on how the shares will be distributed.
Shares of SpaceX, which will report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, closed at $146.03 on Friday. With around 73 million children under the age of 18 in the US, the pledge would be worth approximately $10.66 billion at that share price.
SpaceX's Wall Street Debut
In June, SpaceX made its Wall Street debut as a publicly traded company, making Musk the world's first trillionaire for 12 days. However, its shares are since down 35.3 per cent from their peak in the days after the initial public offering (IPO).
Anthropic said on Sunday that the shares it is committing will be transferred to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity within the company. The fund's worth will potentially increase as the shares grow in value.
Public Concern Over AI
The announcements by Musk and Anthropic come as Americans grow increasingly wary of AI. A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 64 per cent of Americans think AI is developing "too fast", while 27 per cent believe its development has been "about right" and only 8 per cent think it's moving "too slow".
Last month, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, SpaceXAI's Musk and other prominent industry leaders said AI's development needs to slow down. However, efforts to coordinate the pace of AI development face obstacles, including domestic and international competition, commercial pressures and pushback from US President Donald Trump.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and the company's five other co-founders established Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a designation that for-profit companies select to balance financial goals and social impact. Anthropic is planning a major IPO as early as November. The company said in June that it had submitted a confidential filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its proposed IPO.
