Anthropic announced on Sunday that it would allocate some of its shares to public-benefit causes. Elon Musk responded in his own way. He first advised the company to give the securities directly to people rather than distribute them through a fund, and early Monday morning he made a pledge of his own. Next year, he wants to give every child in the United States one of his SpaceX shares.
Anthropic said on Sunday that it would place five percent of its shares into the newly established Public Benefit Fund. According to the company, the board may add another two percent each time the company's value rises by half above a set threshold. The company intends to use the fund's money broadly and is considering both large donations to traditional nonprofits and direct distributions to specific groups of people.
This move is not its only commitment. Anthropic's founders have pledged to donate 80 percent of their stakes, while the company is also introducing a program that matches employee donations. Altogether, roughly one-fifth of the company's shares are expected to go toward the public good. The company has also pledged not to use the fund's resources for lobbying or political donations in the US or elsewhere in the world.
Musk: Give It Directly to the People
Musk did not like the foundation-based approach. In a reply to Anthropic's post, he wrote that he recommended giving the shares directly to the public, adding that this was exactly what he himself would do. He also used the opportunity to once again endorse the idea of universal high income, which he contrasts with the often-discussed basic income. He then published his pledge on X on Monday. According to him, one share for every American child will not be the last gift because, in his words, it will be the first of many.
According to the US Census Bureau, about 73 million children live in the United States. At Friday's price of around $146 per share, Musk's gift would be worth approximately $10.5 billion. However, the final amount may change depending on how much the securities are worth when he actually distributes them. It would not have a significant impact on his wealth. According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as of the end of June, following SpaceX's stock market debut, he held an approximately 48 percent stake in the company and controlled about 85 percent of the voting rights.
Details are still lacking. Musk did not explain exactly who would be eligible for the gift, how the children would receive it, or when it would happen next year.
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
The Path Leads Through Trump Accounts
Experts point mainly to so-called Trump Accounts. These are a government program allowing parents to open tax-advantaged investment accounts for their children under the age of eighteen. The government also deposits $1,000 into the accounts of children born between 2025 and 2028. The Treasury Department recently allowed companies and charities to donate individual securities to these accounts as well, which must then generally remain in the account for five years.
Musk would not be the first. In July, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell announced that she and her husband would donate one share to more than two million children aged 11 to 17 from lower-income areas. In an interview with CNBC in July, President Donald Trump said that he expected Musk to contribute shares in his company to these government accounts.
The response was swift. Michael Dell, who, together with his wife Susan, pledged a record $6.25 billion to these accounts, congratulated Musk and declared that an entire generation would grow up as co-owners of SpaceX.
Both moves come as Anthropic prepares to go public. It could begin publicly offering its securities as early as November, with its valuation reportedly hovering around two trillion dollars. Musk has his own interests in artificial intelligence, as SpaceX owns xAI, the company developing the Grok chatbot.
Sources: apnews.com and cnn.com
