Elon Musk's SpaceX and artificial intelligence firm Anthropic have pledged big financial giveaways as technology companies face growing scrutiny over the impact of AI on society and jobs.
Musk said on Monday he would give one of his shares in SpaceX, his rocket company which owns xAI, to every child in America next year. "Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many," he said in a social media post. Details of how each child would be handed a share have not been disclosed.
The announcement came after Anthropic said it would commit 5% of its shares to a fund that will make donations for the "public good". The Claude developer said none of the shares held in its Public Benefit Fund would be used for lobbying or political donations in the US or overseas. The fund could also receive another 2% of the firm's shares at its board's discretion.
Anthropic is laying the groundwork for a potential blockbuster stock market listing that could value the firm at more than $1tn. SpaceX set the record for the biggest IPO in history in June, raising $85.7bn. Last week, Anthropic told prospective investors that its revenue surged by 45% to $16.8bn in the three months to the end of September.
Responding to Anthropic's pledge, Musk wrote: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public. This is what I will be doing."
The pledges come at a time when the AI industry is under intense scrutiny over safety concerns and fears about its impact on society and jobs. Research by the International Monetary Fund published in 2024 suggested that almost 40% of jobs around the world will be affected by AI, with that figure rising as high as 60% in advanced economies. Companies around the world, primarily technology firms, have cut thousands of jobs after investing in AI, with many pointing to higher efficiencies from its adoption.
In September, Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old researcher who quit Anthropic, said people working on the technology were "genuinely frightened" about the speed of its advancements. "I believe that if we don't slow down at the current rate of progress, there is a strong chance that we could all die in the immediate future," he said.
Anthropic's head, Dario Amodei, has previously called for AI development to slow down, though some have questioned the motivations behind this. The bosses of two rival AI firms, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Musk, have both said they agree with Amodei's proposal for industry-wide deceleration and regulation, as well as independent monitoring of AI model development.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump and the heads of major AI firms signed a "morally binding" document making them responsible for ensuring the safety of their own technology. Trump has repeatedly rejected laws to control development of the technology, and has named director of national intelligence Jay Clayton to head a new taskforce on AI that he said will co-ordinate government engagement with consumers, companies and "religious organizations".