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

Elon Musk and AI company Anthropic announced pledges to give the general public shares in their companies, as worries grow over AI's economic and societal impact. Musk posted on X that next year he will give one SpaceX share, worth about $150, to every child in America, saying it will be "the first of many"—a pledge worth roughly $10.8 billion and less than 2% of his net worth, though he offered no further details. The statement came a day after Anthropic said it would commit 5% of company shares to a "public benefit fund" to address AI's "labor market impacts," a fund it said could make charitable donations or direct money to "specific populations" as it prepares for a potential IPO valued at over $1 trillion. Musk replied that Anthropic should give shares "directly to the public." The pledges come amid fears that AI will erode human labor and worsen income inequality; Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that 50% of white-collar work could be eliminated by decade's end, and polls show most Americans believe AI is developing too fast and are more worried than excited about it. The article notes Musk has a history of bold statements he did not follow through on, including his 2018 claim of "secured" funding to take Tesla private.

(Source：NBC News)