AI takes on great experiment in self-rule

Axios · 10/20/2026, 9:38:57 AM

Slowly but surely, the leading AI companies are creating a national self-governing structure to oversee their technology and its societal impact. With the federal government largely hands-off, Anthropic, OpenAI and others are self-regulating their technology and now setting up their own plans to redistribute their wealth. Why it matters: Not since the age of the robber barons have America's industrial titans wielded such sweeping power to shape society — and decide how their private fortunes should serve the public good. In the modern era, Washington has largely exercised those powers through regulation, taxation and public spending. The big picture: President Trump has no interest in new regulations. Instead, he has blessed a basic framework for the AI companies to regulate themselves — and potentially each other — outside of formal government monitoring. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Elon Musk's XSI, Meta and Nvidia are working on different versions of this. This is all voluntary and rests on the public trusting companies the size of industrialized nations to responsibly police themselves. These companies are in a frantic race to create human-surpassing superintelligence. All are pressing ahead, even as their leaders — particularly at Anthropic — warn of potentially catastrophic risks and profound economic disruption. At the same time, some AI leaders are promising to direct a portion of their vast wealth to benefit those outside their companies. Zoom in: At least three competing visions are emerging for sharing the spoils of the AI boom, each with a different answer to who should control the wealth. Anthropic: The company. On the eve of its blockbuster IPO, Anthropic pledged 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund that could grow into one of the largest philanthropic institutions in history. At a hypothetical $2 trillion valuation, its stake would be worth $100 billion — more than the Gates Foundation's current endowment. Including earlier founder and employee