Elon Musk Promised to Distribute SpaceX Shares to American Children

The billionaire announced his intention on October 19. This came a day after Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company, announced on social media its plans to transfer 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund. This initiative requires shareholder approval.

In response to Anthropic's announcement, Musk wrote that he would recommend transferring shares directly to the public.

On Friday, SpaceX shares closed at a price of 146.03 dollars, or 130.09 euros. There are approximately 73 million children under the age of 18 in the USA. If each of them receives one share at this price, the total value will be approximately 10.66 billion dollars.

Anthropic announced that the shares the company plans to transfer will go into a new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, which is wholly owned by it. The fund's value may increase with the growth of share prices. Musk did not disclose details of his initiative, but added that it would be "the first of many" similar steps.

The statements by Musk and Anthropic came amidst growing concern among Americans about the development of artificial intelligence. According to a new poll by the Associated Press and the NORC research center, 64% of US residents believe that AI is developing too quickly. Another 27% consider the pace of development acceptable, while 8% deem it too slow.

Last month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and other prominent industry representatives stated the need to slow down the development of artificial intelligence. They arrived at this position after one of Anthropic's researchers left the company, warning of serious threats this technology poses to humanity.

However, concerted efforts to slow down AI development face obstacles. These include competition between companies within the USA and internationally, the pursuit of profit, and resistance from President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Musk has become the largest among known donors to the current US midterm election campaign. Since July, he has donated more than 276 million dollars to the cause of maintaining a Republican majority in Congress.

Dario Amodei and five other co-founders of Anthropic registered the company as a public benefit corporation. This is a form of commercial organization that balances financial goals with social impact.

Anthropic plans to conduct a major initial public offering (IPO) as early as November. In June, the company announced that it had confidentially filed the relevant application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the same month, Musk-owned SpaceX went public on Wall Street, making him the first person in history with a trillion-dollar fortune. However, after reaching a peak price a few days after the IPO, the shares fell by 35.3%, leading to a reduction in Musk's wealth.

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