Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, plans to place 5% of its shares into a new Public Benefit Fund, subject to stockholder approval. Elon Musk responded less than a day later by promising to give one SpaceX share to every child in the United States next year.
The announcements put two different approaches to distributing corporate wealth in the spotlight: Anthropic’s plan would route shares through a company-controlled fund, while Musk’s proposal would transfer stock directly to children through a tax-advantaged savings structure. According to Decrypt, the moves come as Anthropic prepares for a possible initial public offering and faces growing scrutiny over the risks and benefits of advanced artificial intelligence.
Anthropic’s proposed fund
Anthropic said the new fund would be organized as a wholly owned limited liability company rather than a traditional nonprofit. The company said this structure would give the fund greater flexibility in how it supports public causes, including the possibility of large donations to established nonprofits or direct distributions to particular groups.
Anthropic has already committed $200 million to studying those possibilities. The company said the fund would initially receive 5% of its shares, provided that stockholders approve the plan. Its board could authorize an additional 2% each time Anthropic’s value rises 50% above a baseline, although that baseline has not been disclosed.
The company also said that none of the fund’s equity could be used for lobbying or political donations. When pledges from Anthropic’s co-founders and an employee donation-matching program are included, the company estimates that roughly 20% of its shares will ultimately be dedicated to public causes.
The financial value of that commitment could be substantial. Anthropic is preparing an IPO that could come as early as November, with a reported valuation of about $2 trillion. At that valuation, 5% of the company would be worth roughly $100 billion on paper. That figure represents the estimated value of shares, not cash already held by the fund.
Important details remain unresolved. Anthropic has not said how the fund would be taxed or what information it would disclose publicly compared with a conventional charity. The company said it plans to publish the fund’s governance structure and valuation thresholds in the coming months.
Musk proposes direct stock gifts
Musk criticized the idea of routing the shares through a fund, writing on X that the stock should be given directly to the public. Early Monday, he followed that response with a pledge to give one SpaceX share to every child in the United States next year, adding that it would be “the first of many.”
With approximately 72 million children in the country, the proposed distribution would involve about $10.5 billion in SpaceX stock at a share price of roughly $147. The amount would equal just over 1% of the 6.42 billion SpaceX shares Musk held as of June 30, according to an SEC filing.
The source material links Musk’s plan to a recent Treasury Department decision allowing companies and charities to contribute individual company shares to Trump Accounts, tax-advantaged savings accounts for children. Donated stock would generally be held for five years. Musk’s response to a post about that arrangement indicated that this may be the mechanism he intends to use.
The two proposals therefore differ in both structure and control. Anthropic would place a portion of its equity into an entity governed by its own board, while Musk’s plan would distribute individual shares to children through accounts designed for them. The details of eligibility, administration and timing for the SpaceX distribution were not provided.
The AI policy backdrop
Anthropic’s announcement followed the company’s presentation of a draft AI safety bill to lawmakers two days earlier. The proposal would allow the government to block an AI model if it posed a foreseeable and imminent risk of killing or seriously injuring more than 50 people, or causing more than $1 billion in damage.
The risks described in the proposal include a bioweapon, an AI system moving beyond human control or a cyberattack. Any block would have to involve the Commerce Department and a federal court order. The draft would also require developers to publish safety frameworks and transparency reports for new models.
Anthropic said the proposal reflected its Advanced AI Framework, which it has promoted to lawmakers since June. The company’s position comes amid public concern about the pace of AI development. An AP-NORC poll in late September found that 64% of U.S. adults believed the technology was developing too quickly, while 8% said it was progressing too slowly.
The public-benefit pledge has drawn criticism as well as attention. Investor and former White House AI czar David Sacks questioned whether placing 20% of Anthropic’s equity in an LLC would necessarily serve the public interest. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned about the dangers of advanced AI, while the company continues to release powerful models. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously accused Anthropic of using fear-based marketing to promote Claude Mythos.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 22:19 on October 19, 2026, showed mixed performance among the listed cryptoassets:
- ECOMI (OMI): $0.0002782243, up 0.83% over 24 hours and down 0.68% over seven days.
- FUNToken (FUN): $0.0087249439, down 1.99% over 24 hours and up 1.80% over seven days.
- aelf (ELF): $0.0615586505, down 0.39% over 24 hours and down 8.06% over seven days.
- Prom (PROM): $4.8374124516, up 3.09% over 24 hours and down 5.92% over seven days.
Anthropic’s stock plan remains subject to shareholder approval, while the company’s possible IPO could arrive as early as November. The governance and valuation rules for the fund are expected to be disclosed in the coming months.
