Musk proposes SpaceX shares for U.S. children after Anthropic equity fund move

Musk’s pledge follows Anthropic’s announcement

The Currency Analytics reports that Elon Musk said he wanted to give a SpaceX share to every child in the United States, which the article describes as about 73 million people. The pledge came hours after Anthropic announced its own plan to place 5% of its equity into a new public-benefit fund. Musk had already commented on Anthropic’s move on X, saying shares should go directly to people instead of being routed through an institution.

According to the article, Musk then expanded on that idea by proposing one SpaceX share for each American under 18. Using a SpaceX share price of $146.03, the article calculates the total value at nearly $10.7 billion. It also says Musk did not present a delivery plan.

Anthropic’s fund and what remains unresolved

The Currency Analytics says Anthropic announced the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund on October 18. The company, which develops Claude AI, said the fund would start with 5% of its equity. The article adds that the fund could receive more shares if Anthropic’s value rises, but that possibility depends on conditions the company did not spell out.

The article says the 5% transfer has not happened yet because shareholder approval is still required. It also notes that Anthropic’s founders separately pledged to donate 80% of their personal stakes to public-interest causes, and some employees made similar pledges. Those commitments are described as separate from the fund’s initial 5% allocation.

The article says Anthropic has not said which organizations would receive money, which groups would benefit, or when any payouts would occur. It also says the fund’s governance rules have not been defined, so there is no public system yet for choosing projects or deciding how money would be allocated. The article adds that Anthropic previously committed $200 million to public-interest efforts and said it wants to support work on AI’s wider effects, including job disruption, safety issues, and social risks.

Musk’s proposal leaves key mechanics open

The Currency Analytics describes Musk’s idea as simpler in structure: he wants to skip a fund and give shares directly to children. The article says he described it as the first in a series of distributions, but he did not say what later rounds would involve or when they would happen.

Several details remain unresolved, according to the article. Musk has not said who would qualify, including whether the plan would apply to all children born in the United States, only citizens, or some other group. He has also not described how the shares would be distributed. The article says tax consequences have not been addressed, and it is unclear whether children would receive the shares directly or have them placed in locked accounts until adulthood. It also says no process was described for either approach.

The article says Musk appeared to connect the proposal to investment accounts created by the Trump administration for American children, but no official link has been announced between those accounts and the proposed SpaceX distribution.

Broader context and open questions

The Currency Analytics says the two ideas reflect different methods of distributing company equity. Anthropic’s plan would place shares in an institution that would decide how to use them for public-interest purposes, while Musk’s proposal would give stock directly to individual children so they could benefit if SpaceX’s share price rises.

The article places both announcements against concern about artificial intelligence. It cites an AP-NORC poll published at the end of September saying 64% of U.S. adults thought AI development was moving too fast, while 8% said it was moving too slowly.

The article says Anthropic still needs shareholder approval, governance decisions, and named beneficiaries. For Musk’s proposal, it says the main challenge is building a legal and financial structure that could work for tens of millions of families. The article says no such framework exists yet.