Elon Musk and Anthropic make promises to give the public a piece of the AI pie

Elon Musk and officials at AI giant Anthropic are pledging to give coveted shares in their companies to the general public as concerns about AI’s economic and societal impact continue to pile up.“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” Musk posted on X on Monday.“This will be the first of many.”One SpaceX share is currently valued at about $150.

With approximately 72 million children under the age of 18 in the U.S., Musk’s donation would currently be worth about $10.8 billion — less than 2% of his current net worth.He provided no additional information.

Musk could not be reached for additional comment.His statement comes one day after officials at Anthropic said the company would commit 5% of company shares to a “public benefit fund” in order to address “labor market impacts” of AI.In a statement, Anthropic officials said the fund could make charitable donations or direct money to “specific populations,” emphasizing the fund’s “versatility.” “Given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed,” they said.

Anthropic has been preparing for an initial public offering — releasing its stock for trading on public markets — that analysts say would value the company at more than $1 trillion.The company has long championed employees’ charitable giving by promising to match their donations.

Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic.Jason Henry / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileMusk replied to Anthropic on X saying it should give shares “directly to the public.”While evidence of AI’s impact on work so far remains mixed, a core premise underlying the current artificial intelligence investment boom is that it will make business processes vastly more efficient, including by eroding returns to human labor.That’s prompted fears about exacerbating income inequality and sparked worries of a “permanent underclass” forming throughout society.

Anthropic CEO Dar...