Anthropic public benefit fund could pay AI-hit workers, Musk scoffs

The fund is a new entity that will hold Anthropic stock and use its value for public-benefit projects. It needs approval from Anthropic’s stockholders before it takes effect. The key mechanics:

• Starting stake: 5% of Anthropic’s shares.
• Built-in growth: the board can add another 2% for every 50% increase in Anthropic’s value above a set baseline. The company hasn’t said what that baseline is.
• Legal form: a limited liability company fully owned by Anthropic, not a traditional charity such as a 501(c)(3). Anthropic says that gives it room to switch between different kinds of giving.
• No politics: Anthropic says none of the shares held by the fund will be used for lobbying or political donations, in the US or anywhere else.

Anthropic made a pointed comparison in its announcement. Tech companies commonly give executives pay packages that grow as the company’s value rises. Anthropic says it is pointing that same kind of escalating reward at the public instead.

Anthropic gave two examples of how the fund might spend: large donations to established nonprofits, or “direct distributions to specific populations”, meaning payments that go straight to particular groups of people.

The company singled out AI’s effect on jobs as one area to tackle. It has already committed $200 million to studying how AI is changing the job market, but said that given how quickly AI is advancing, “bolder approaches may be needed.” The fund is meant to be the vehicle for those.

The worry is not abstract. Research from the International Monetary Fund published in 2024 suggested almost 40% of jobs worldwide will be affected by AI, rising to around 60% in advanced economies such as the US and UK. Companies, mostly in tech, have already cut thousands of jobs after investing in AI, often citing efficiency gains.

In plain terms: nothing changes for anyone’s paycheck today. The fund doesn’t exist yet in final form, there is no application process, and Anthropic hasn’t said who would decide which groups get help. It says it will publish details on the fund’s structure, governance and valuation milestones “in the coming months,” along with a public benefit report on its progress.

What it does signal is that at least one major AI developer accepts that its products could cause real disruption for workers, and is setting money aside in case they do. If the fund ever makes direct payments, the group most likely to benefit, based on Anthropic’s own example, is workers in roles hit hardest by automation. Until the governance rules are published, treat any website or message claiming to sign you up for “Anthropic payments” as a scam.

Elon Musk, who runs rival AI efforts through xAI, which is now owned by SpaceX, wasn’t a fan of the structure. He replied to the announcement recommending “giving the shares directly to the public,” and said that was what he would do.

Hours later he followed through, at least on paper: Musk posted that he would give one of his own SpaceX shares to every child in America next year. That pledge has no published details either. The exchange turns a corporate filing into a public argument about how the wealth created by AI should be shared: through a managed fund with rules and a board, or by handing shares straight to people.

The timing makes sense. AI companies face growing public suspicion, which Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called “fundamentally a crisis of trust.” Anthropic is legally set up as a public benefit corporation, which means it has to balance doing good for society against making money, and it is now also courting investors. Last week it told prospective investors that revenue jumped 45% to $16.8 billion in the three months to the end of September.

The new fund also stacks on earlier promises. Anthropic’s co-founders pledged to give away 80% of their equity when they started the company, and the company matches shares that staff choose to donate, a program about half of its employees use. Together with the new fund, Anthropic says roughly 20% of its shares are now set aside for the public good, before any extra allocations tied to growth.