The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Elon Musk pledges a share of his SpaceX company to 'every kid in America'

    Synopsis

    Elon Musk has announced plans to gift one share of SpaceX to each child in America next year. This announcement came shortly after Anthropic pledged 5% of its shares to a benefit fund. The new fund will potentially increase in value as shares grow. Recent surveys show many Americans are concerned about the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology.

    FILE - Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Oct. 8, 2026, in Washington.AP
    Elon Musk has announced plans to gift one share of SpaceX to each child in America next year.
    Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday pledged to give one share of his company SpaceX to "every kid in America" next year.

    The offer arrived a day after artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced in a social media post that it will commit 5% of its shares to a new "public benefit" fund.

    In a response to that Sunday post, Musk wrote, "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public."


    Read more: Elon Musk's Starlink responds to Reliance, says ‘ready to connect India’ with high-speed internet

    Shares of SpaceX, which will report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, closed at $146.03 on Friday.

    Anthropic said Sunday that the shares it is committing will go to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity within the company. The fund's worth will potentially increase as the shares grow in value.

    Musk did not provide further details on how his share pledge will be carried out, but did add in his post that "This will be the first of many."

    Read more: Musk’s SpaceX, Tesla results to test AI spending as merger speculation builds

    The announcements by Musk and Anthropic arrive as Americans grow increasingly wary of AI. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Americans, 64%, think AI is developing "too fast," while 27% say its development has been "about right" and only 8% say it's moving "too slow."

    Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and the company's five other cofounders established Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a designation that for-profit companies select to balance financial goals and social impact.

    Anthropic is planning a massive initial public offering as soon as November. In June the company said that it had submitted a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its proposed IPO.

    That same month, Musk's SpaceX made its Wall Street debut as a publicly traded company and made Musk the world's first trillionaire.

    Add ET Logo as a Reliable and Trusted News Source

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

    Explore More Stories

    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in