Big Tech plans 'universal basic income' fund — there's just one huge problem

For years, AI leaders told society that their platforms will take all the jobs, leaving us with no means to make money. Instead, the elite will give us an allowance called universal basic income. Now one AI giant, Anthropic, is moving forward with a public fund that could make UBI a reality — if it gets over one massive hurdle.Theoretically, universal basic income is a social welfare program where citizens receive a regular payment from the top — likely a federal or state government agency — to cover the costs of living.Anthropic is bleeding cash, and if that continues, investments will dry up, and so will the fund.I write “theoretically” because it’s never actually been implemented before. Not successfully. Several countries have tested UBI — the U.S. among them, once in Alaska, and another time in North Carolina — but the program never stuck around. It was only provided as a stopgap with no means to sustain it long-term.Like socialism itself, UBI is a utopian idea where no one works, everyone is handed the things they need, and we all live out the rest of our days in redundant, ignorant bliss until we pass along to the grave. It’s a dangerous delusion that would bring about the end of personal freedom in exchange for authoritarian control.Still, the idea is popular with leftists and some tech elite. Among the latter, Elon Musk believes that UBI is the future. “There will be universal high income (not merely basic income),” he wrote in a post on X in 2025. “Everyone will have the best medical care, food, home, transport and everything else. Sustainable abundance.” Recently, Musk even claimed that “saving money for the distant future is pointless with the advent of super intelligent abundance.” This statement comes courtesy of the continuously elusive but ever-tempting dream that AI will produce infinite wealth for humanity, even as the AI companies themselves lose billions of dollars on the way to a complete crash.If that math doesn’t add up in your head, you’re right. Nevertheless, one AI company is plowing ahead with a fund that could be the very beginning of our promised universal basic income hellscape ... er, future.RELATED: Elon Musk dropped a bloodcurdling AI bombshell for 2026 — Glenn Beck offers one of the last freedom-preserving solutions Chesnot/Getty ImagesAnthropic has vowed to take 5% of its shares and set it aside in a “public benefit fund.” Following that initial contribution, the company will add an extra 2% to the fund for every 50% Anthropic grows above its baseline.With the fund, Anthropic claims that it could “explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations.” That last bit is concerning, as it’s rife with variable meaning. “Specific populations” could be anyone, from the general population with UBI, to black and indigenous groups with reparations, to minority programs attached to the now-defunct-but-not-dead DEI.There is something Anthropic vows not to do with the fund — pay for political lobbying campaigns or offer political donations. These are off limits.The exact details of the public benefit fund are beholden to Anthropic’s future shareholders, and they are subject to change. Anthropic filed an SEC Form S-1 on October 26 in preparation for its upcoming IPO, where purchased stocks will serve as the catalyst for the program. This is where Anthropic’s plan could go off the rails.The public fund’s sustainability is based on shareholder support. A higher stock price means more money in the fund, while a lower stock price will tank its value. The price only goes up if investors believe that Anthropic is growing and that they will get a return on their investment. So far, like all the other AI companies, Anthropic is in the hole, losing $80 billion in the first half of 2026. It’s faltering.Anthropic is bleeding cash, and if that continues, investments will dry up, and so will the fund. That’s bad news for the AI giant, but this highlights an even bigger issue. If AI companies are meant to usher in the age of universal basic income — whether they create enough wealth in the market to spread around or they fund this service themselves — they have to be sustainable, and if not, the UBI facade falls apart.This is further proof that universal basic income is a pipe dream that requires several miracles — AI to become profitable, reliable, and sustainable — to finally bring about the age of abundance that Musk touted. Until then, UBI is like socialism — an idea that sounds benevolent on paper but collapses the moment it’s put into action.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!