Anthropic pledges 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund

Anthropic pledged 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund, bringing its proposed contributions and existing donation programs to roughly 20% of its shares. A day later, Elon Musk said he would give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year. SpaceX reports third-quarter results after the close today. And AI-chip company Tenstorrent announced a $1.5 billion round at a $6.2 billion valuation.

Anthropic pledges 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund

Anthropic said Sunday it will commit 5% of its shares to a newly formed Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. The fund could receive an additional 2% for every 50% increase in Anthropic’s value, according to TechCrunch. Forbes reported that the commitment requires stockholder approval and that the board would decide whether to make the additional contributions.

Combined with its six cofounders’ existing pledge to donate 80% of their equity and an employee equity-donation matching program, Anthropic says roughly 20% of its shares would go to public-benefit causes.

The fund is a wholly owned limited liability company. Anthropic says that structure allows it to make large donations to nonprofits or distribute money directly to specific populations, including people affected by AI-driven job disruption.

Several details remain undisclosed: who will decide how the money is spent, the valuation baseline for additional contributions, and where the shares will come from. Neither TechCrunch nor Forbes specifies whether Anthropic would issue new shares or transfer existing ones, a distinction that determines whether current shareholders would be diluted. Anthropic says more detail will come “in the coming months.”

The pledge comes as Anthropic may be considering a public listing, according to Reuters. Reuters reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that a listing could come as early as mid-November. Forbes cites reports of a target valuation above $2 trillion. Anthropic has confirmed neither the timing nor the valuation, and how a listing would affect the fund remains unclear.

Reported private-company financials and secondary-market indications may be unaudited, incomplete, non-standard, or based on limited transaction activity. They should not be relied upon as fair value, executable pricing, or a basis for any investment decision.

For more company information, recent coverage, and available market data, visit Anthropic on Augment.

Musk pledges a SpaceX share to every child in America

Musk wrote on X early Monday that he would give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, Axios reported. He called it “the first of many” but did not explain what that meant, how the shares would be transferred, or which children would qualify.

ABC News put a SpaceX share at about $150 on Monday morning. Using a Census estimate of about 73 million people under 18, it calculated a cost of nearly $11 billion. Axios, using Friday’s $146.03 closing price, estimated a little over $10.5 billion. Both are reporters’ calculations.

The pledge followed Anthropic’s announcement by a day. Anthropic proposes contributing company equity, subject to stockholder approval; Musk says the SpaceX shares would come from his own holdings. SpaceX is publicly traded.

SpaceX also reports third-quarter results after the market close today, according to an investor relations notice cited by Yahoo Finance. The report says 1.30 billion shares unlock two days after earnings, another 329 million on October 24, and 857 million afterward. Yahoo notes that the earnings date surprised Wall Street, with companies typically announcing results dates weeks in advance.

Data Point of the Day

$6.2 billion

Tenstorrent’s announced valuation in its $1.5 billion Series E, led by Trace Capital and Innovation X.

Reuters reported that the valuation more than doubled from its previous round. Tenstorrent licenses its RISC-V CPU and AI core designs to chip designers, including Samsung and LG. Its announcement did not disclose revenue.

Reported private-company financials and secondary-market indications may be unaudited, incomplete, non-standard, or based on limited transaction activity. They should not be relied upon as fair value, executable pricing, or a basis for any investment decision.

Quick Takes

The following financing rounds are included for market context only and are not recommendations or valuation opinions.

Modal Labs raised $750 million. The Accel-led Series D values the AI-inference cloud company at $15.75 billion. Modal says its annual revenue run rate has passed $1 billion, per Crunchbase News. That figure is an annualized run rate, not recognized annual revenue.

Two rounds led U.S. funding for October 10–16. Modal’s $750 million round and Icon’s $200 million Series D topped Crunchbase’s weekly list. The ranking covers a single week.

Nscale and Anthropic are reportedly discussing another compute deal. Bloomberg, as relayed by Reuters, puts the potential agreement at about $45 billion for 460 megawatts at Nscale’s West Virginia campus, following a $45 billion agreement in August. A source told Reuters the details could change. The report also notes that Microsoft withdrew from a separate Nscale data center deal over power connection delays.

Forge lists Revolut at $2,125 a share. The October 19 indication implies a valuation of about $121.2 billion. Forge says its price is indicative and does not necessarily represent a price at which shares could be bought or sold.

From the Manual

Public benefit corporation

A public benefit corporation is a for-profit company whose charter includes a public purpose. Its directors must balance that purpose with shareholders’ financial interests. Anthropic is organized this way, per Forbes. The designation concerns the company’s governance; it does not confer nonprofit status.

What We’re Watching

Anthropic’s fund terms. The company says it will share more in the coming months. Key details include who controls spending, where the shares come from, and the valuation baseline for the potential 2% contributions. Forbes says how a potential listing would affect the fund is also unclear.

SpaceX’s earnings and share unlocks. Results are due after the close today, followed by the unlock schedule outlined by Yahoo Finance. Musk has yet to explain how he would carry out his share pledge.

OpenAI’s reported $30 billion raise. Reuters reported that OpenAI is approaching investors, including SoftBank and MGX, about raising roughly $30 billion at a valuation above $1.4 trillion ahead of Anthropic’s reported potential listing. Talks are ongoing. Comparisons between the companies’ valuations need to account for differences in business mix, cost structure, and compute commitments.

Augment and/or its affiliates hold a position in Anthropic and OpenAI.