Anthropic's Public Benefit Fund: Comparing AI and Corporate Philanthropy Leaders
Overview of Major Corporate and AI Philanthropic Initiatives
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Anthropic said it would commit 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund, as debate intensifies over how the growing wealth generated by artificial intelligence should be distributed.
The pledge comes amid a broader political debate over who should benefit from AI's gains, months after US Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that would give the public a 50% stake in the largest US AI companies.
Here is what is known about Anthropic's fund and how it compares with some other large philanthropic efforts set up by major corporations, their current or former leaders, or their families:
Anthropic Public Benefit Fund
Anthropic said in a blog post on Sunday its Public Benefit Fund could support initiatives including nonprofit donations, direct distributions to specific populations and efforts to address AI's impact on the labor market.
The Claude maker said its proposed fund would be established as a wholly owned limited liability company and would receive an additional 2% of Anthropic's shares, at the board's discretion, for every 50% increase in the company's value above a baseline that has yet to be disclosed.
OpenAI Foundation
OpenAI completed a restructuring in October 2025 that left its nonprofit, renamed the OpenAI Foundation, with a 26% stake in the for-profit, worth about $130 billion at the time.
The foundation also holds a warrant to receive additional equity if OpenAI Group's share price rises more than tenfold over 15 years.
OpenAI said in a blog post at that time that the company's success will raise the value of the nonprofit's stake, which the nonprofit will use to fund its philanthropic work.
OpenAI Foundation Focus Areas
The foundation said it will initially focus on a $25 billion commitment across two areas: health and curing diseases, and technical solutions to AI resilience. This builds on its $50 million commitment to support nonprofits and mission-focused organizations that OpenAI announced in July 2025.
Gates Foundation
Founded in 2000 by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, the Gates Foundation invested more than $102.3 billion during its first 25 years in global health and development, US education and economic mobility.
Future Commitments and Focus
In May 2025, Gates said the foundation would spend an additional $200 billion over the next two decades before winding down in December 2045.
The foundation's work through 2045 will focus on three goals: ensuring that no mother or baby dies from a preventable cause, enabling the next generation to grow up without deadly infectious diseases, and helping hundreds of millions of people escape poverty.
2026 Payout and Budget Allocation
It plans a record $9 billion payout in 2026, with about 70% of its budget allocated to advancing those first two goals, which encompass its global health work.
Warren Buffett's Pledge
In 2006, the legendary investor Warren Buffett pledged to donate nearly all of his Berkshire stock to philanthropic foundations.
Since then, he has donated over half of his shares, including more than $47 billion to the Gates Foundation and over $17 billion to four family charities.
Changes in Philanthropic Partnerships
However, he stopped donating to the Gates Foundation following revelations about interactions between Bill Gates and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, ending a two-decade philanthropic partnership.
Future Giving Plans
Buffett said that he plans to donate 99.5% of his remaining wealth to a charitable trust overseen by his daughter and two sons when he dies.
After his death, his children will have about 10 years to give away his remaining wealth and must decide unanimously which philanthropic purposes it should serve.
Elon Musk's Pledge
After Anthropic announced its public fund on Sunday, Elon Musk pledged to give one SpaceX share to "every kid in America.""Yes, giving shares, which are stakes in the future economy, directly to the people is the way," the SpaceX and Tesla CEO wrote in an X post.
SpaceX Leadership and Additional Pledges
Earlier this year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband also pledged a share of their SpaceX stock to each of more than 2 million children under the Trump Accounts investment initiative.
MacKenzie Scott's Pledge
MacKenzie Scott received about 4% of Amazon's stock in her 2019 divorce from the company's founder Jeff Bezos, a stake then worth about $36 billion.
She signed the Giving Pledge shortly after committing to giving away at least half of her Amazon fortune during her lifetime. The Giving Pledge was founded by Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates to encourage the world's wealthiest people to donate the majority of their fortunes.
Major Donations and Impact
Since then, she has donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood (in 2022), more than $4 billion to food banks and emergency relief funds during the coronavirus pandemic, and billions of dollars in grants to causes such as racial equality, LGBTQ rights and climate change.Scott gave away $7.1 billion in 2025, according to a Yield Giving letter published last year.
Ford Foundation
Established by Henry Ford's son Edsel in 1936 with an initial gift of $25,000, the Ford Foundation grew from a family-backed Michigan philanthropy into one of the world's largest foundations. Its current endowment is valued at about $18 billion.The 90-year-old foundation awarded $768 million through 2,288 grants in 2024. Its work is aimed at reducing poverty and injustice, strengthening democratic values and promoting international cooperation.
BUILD Initiative
In 2015, it launched BUILD, a five-year, $1 billion investment in the long-term capacity and sustainability of 350 social justice organizations addressing inequality around the world. The foundation renewed BUILD in 2021 with an additional $1 billion.
Lilly Endowment
Established in 1937 by J.K. Lilly and his sons through gifts of stock in the family drugmaker, the L
