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Musk pledges SpaceX shares to every US child

Elon Musk (pictured) revealed plans to give a SpaceX share to every child in the US next year, making the pledge a day after AI company Anthropic outlined plans to dedicate part of its equity to public benefit initiatives.

“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” Musk posted on social media platform X, adding: “This will be the first of many.”

He provided no details on how the shares would be distributed or how the plan would be funded. According to Census Bureau data, around 73 million children live in the US. This would put the potential value of the giveaway at approximately $10.7 billion based on SpaceX’s closing share price of $146.03 on 16 October.

A regulatory filing made in August showed the billionaire held a 48.4% stake in SpaceX as of 30 June. The company went public earlier this year, raising $75 billion in a record-breaking IPO which briefly made the tech mogul the world’s first trillionaire.

Public Benefit Fund
Separately, Anthropic announced on Sunday (18 October) that it would commit 5% of its shares to a new Public Benefit Fund, with the potential for the allocation to grow as the company’s valuation increases.

The AI player stated the fund could receive an additional 2% of its shares for every 50% increase in its valuation above a baseline yet to be disclosed. Additional allocations would be made at the board’s discretion.

Anthropic stated the fund would give it “increased flexibility and scale” to pursue its mission, including “large donations to traditional non-profits or direct distributions to specific populations”.

One potential focus is AI-driven disruption to employment. The company stated that, although the technology could generate “enormous economic value”, it could “cause instability for many workers”. It has already committed $200 million to research and initiatives addressing the issue, “but given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed”.

“The Fund will have the versatility to pursue them.”

Anthropic, which has confidentially filed for an IPO, stated further details on the fund’s governance and valuation thresholds would follow in the coming months.

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stc sets AI-native targets

stc Group seized the initiative on AI-native networking, setting a target of employing the technology directly in its core infrastructure by 2030.

The operator believes placing the technology at the heart of its infrastructure is essential to keep pace with growing demand for AI services and the resulting changes to connectivity requirements.

stc detailed its ambitions and approach in a white paper released during the Network X event in Austria last week in which it argued AI is essential to handle the complexity of modern telecoms networks.

In a statement publicising the white paper, stc explained the evolution to 5G-Advanced is a principal driver of increased operational complexity. It also pointed to “AI-enabled calling and immersive communications” as factors necessitating the technology.

stc argued operators are set to become essential providers of connectivity as AI services take-off, stating agents and automated systems “need networks to coordinate communications and computing resources”.

It believes an AI-native network is essential in this regard because of the greater levels of automated decision making and resource allocation the technology should afford.

stc is also seeking to improve network maintenance and reliability.

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Microsoft pulls out of Nscale UK data centre deal

Microsoft reportedly withdrew from a deal to lease computing capacity at AI infrastructure player Nscale’s planned data centre in the UK due to delays related to power supply, adding to mounting concerns around the status of the country’s AI projects.

According to The Telegraph, the US technology giant pulled the plug on the mooted data centre to be constructed in Loughton, Essex, which was originally expected to receive a grid connection by the end of 2026.

However, it now faces a wait until the following decade for supply.

“Our relationship with Microsoft remains strong and long-term, and this unfortunate London-wide grid issue has no impact on our other contracts,” an Nscale spokesperson told Reuters. The pair are still collaborating across other projects, including developments in Norway, Portugal and the US.

The company reportedly added it remained “committed to both the Loughton project and the UK” and was exploring alternative power sources.

Announced last year, the Loughton development was backed by a £2.5 billion investment commitment from Nscale and formed part of a wider UK push to attract AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft had planned to lease the site’s entire 50MW capacity and deploy an AI supercomputer equipped with around 23,000 Nvidia GB300 chips.

The setback revives questions about the delivery of the UK’s headline AI investment pledges. A Guardian investigation in March raised concerns over the status of major announced projects, including the Loughton site, which was still being used as a scaffolding yard when visited by reporters in February. Nscale subsequently said it had purchased the site in September 2025 and was targeting delivery in 2027.

Power availability remains a wider constraint for UK data centre development, as growing demand from AI workloads puts pressure on grid infrastructure.

Nscale, which is backed by Nvidia, filed for a US IPO last month and raised $3.4 billion in pre-IPO financing. The UK-based company named Microsoft and Anthropic as expected major customers in its prospectus.

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