What smart people are saying about Anthropic's 5% 'public benefit' pledge

Anthropic CEO Anthropic is pledging billions worth of shares to a "public benefit fund." That sounds great — but not everyone is a fan. Elon Musk is among those who says the money should go directly to Americans. Anthropic's announcement that it will commit at least 5% of its shares to a "public benefit fund" is drawing a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism. Many questions about how the fund would work remain unanswered, but the company said it would create a separate corporation with the shares to make donations. Here's what people are saying. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceXAI Elon Musk says he plans to give money directly to the public. Musk, whose SpaceXAI is a competitor of Anthropic, made some news about his own plans in an X post reacting to Anthropic's statement. "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public," he wrote. "This is what I will be doing." Palmer Luckey, Anduril cofounder The Anduril Industries cofounder expressed concern about what Anthropic might fund. "The problem is that their definition of 'public good' is helping everyone else, not the American public," he wrote on X. "If they would commit to helping America and Americans, that would be one thing, but this reeks of USAID 2.0, just another way to funnel billions out of our own economy." Andrew Curran, AI analyst The prominent AI analyst zeroed in on a line in Anthropic's statement in which it said it might explore "direct distributions to specific populations." Curran wrote on X. "It sounds to me like they are planning their own form of self-directed global UBI," he wrote referring to universal basic income, which some have said will be necessary if AI drastically reduces employment. "About half of Anth employees are also donating shares into this fund," Curran added. "They foresee a transformative future." Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Gerstner praised Anthropic for what he called its "philanthropic commitments," calling it "an extraordinary gift" — but he also sounded a note of caution about "foundation wealth concentration." Like Musk, he wrote, "I hope a meaningful portion of AI's wealth is a direct dividend." Sam Hogan Heutmaker, CEO of Inference The CEO drew a comparison between Anthropic's plan to create a charity and OpenAI, which began as a nonprofit before going commercial. "This will come to be known as 'the reverse OpenAI'" he wrote on X. "start as C corp, raise lots of money > once successful, start 'independent' non profit > start concentrating value into this new entity, which you and your homies control." "It's genius," he added. Gary Marcus, professor at NYU Gary Marcus, emeritus professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University, during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. Photographer: Marcus cast the announcement as a PR gambit. "Anthropic is playing games here," he wrote on X. "Trying to curry public favor while still holding control and resisting disclosure is annoying. And reeks of desperation." Patrick Moorhead, CEO of Moor Insights and Strategy Patrick Moorhead at the Featured Session: Business, Life, and the Magic of Austin: A Conversation with Michael Dell as part of SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals held at Austin Convention Center on March 14, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Errich Petersen/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images) Errich Petersen/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images Moorhead was among those raising questions about whether Anthropic would have too much control over where the funds go. "If it's dedicated entirely the 'public benefit' why don't they just give it to the public and citizens where they can directly benefit? Seems like the public would know what to do with the money better than bureaucratic institutions," he wrote on X. Read the original article on Business Insider

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