Recently, talk about the regulations on and future of AI has been popular within the media and legislative branches of government. As these potential issues continue to be discussed, multiple companies and investors have given their opinions on the future of the spoils that the AI boom has brought.
The company backing the Claude AI model, Anthropic, said this past weekend that it is committed to donating at least 5% of its shares to a new, unprecedented fund for the “public good.” Elon Musk, on the other hand, pledged that he will give one SpaceX share to every kid in America.
These sudden insistences on donating for the public good is likely due to increased worry over AI safety concerns and the thought that the development of AI will lead to severe and quite possibly existential risks, such as mass job loss. Anthropic on one side is attempting to remedy these concerns by distributing the wealth of its company through nonprofits and direct contributions to specific, often marginalized, populations while Musk is giving shares “directly to the public.”
Anthropic believes that its initiative will give it drastically more flexibility and scale to make donations and provide assistance where needed to best benefit humanity. The company is also planning one of the biggest initial public offerings (IPOs), a process where a private company sells shares of stock to the public for the first time in history.
The flotation is likely to value somewhere between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion, with the 5% stake Anthropic is offering, valuing between $75 billion to $100 billion. Even at just this 5% stake, it would still massively outweigh the potential value of Musk’s share giveaway, which would value at approximately $11 billion if given to the 72 million children that are currently in America.
Elon Musk’s belief that giving shares directly to the people is the best way to help the economy comes just months after the White House launched “Trump Accounts” to U.S.-born citizens born between 2025 and 2028, which would provide $1000 for families to invest for their children.
These moves sparked criticism from Robert Pavlik, a senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management. “It feels like a publicity stunt… Will it create positive public sentiment? Perhaps.” Pavlik said.
Anthropic, which positions itself as a safety-first AI lab, has stated in the past that AI could potentially pose a “catastrophic or existential risk to humanity,” going against the idea that AI is harmless that other AI companies push. The company has stated that it wants the Public Benefit Fund it is starting to support initiatives that would donate directly to specific in-need populations and also address AI’s impact on the labor market and environment. The proposed fund is stated to be established as a wholly owned liability company and would receive an additional 2% of Anthropic’s shares, on top of the initial 5%.
Furthermore, the company has stated that none of its equity would be used for political means or donations, both in and outside of the US.
Overall, both Musk’s and Anthropic’s approach attempt to quell the growing unrest amongst Americans about AI’s growing influence on the economy, in the workplace and in schools. Whether or not these attempts to remedy its inclusion will work is yet to be found, however, companies like Anthropic who focus on a human-centered approach to AI, have found a way into some of the public’s hearts and earned their support.
