Trump asked Musk for SpaceX stock to seed US kids’ savings accounts, report says
Trump asked Musk for SpaceX stock to seed US kids’ savings accounts, report says
报道称特朗普曾向马斯克寻求 SpaceX 股票，以充实美国儿童储蓄账户
One way Donald Trump plans to celebrate July 4th is by rolling out children’s savings accounts, known as Trump Accounts, and apparently, he’s been angling to get a big donation from SpaceX as part of that push. A person familiar with talks involving the Trump administration told Semafor that SpaceX has spoken with US officials about donating stock to Trump Accounts. At this stage, however, it remains unclear if a donation will be made or what impact a SpaceX donation might have on the value of the accounts, which Trump hopes will be a defining part of his legacy.
唐纳德·特朗普计划通过推出名为“特朗普账户”（Trump Accounts）的儿童储蓄账户来庆祝 7 月 4 日独立日。显然，他一直试图从 SpaceX 获得一笔巨额捐赠，作为该计划的一部分。一位知悉特朗普政府相关谈判的人士告诉 Semafor，SpaceX 已与美国官员讨论过向“特朗普账户”捐赠股票的事宜。然而，目前尚不清楚捐赠是否会达成，也不清楚 SpaceX 的捐赠会对这些账户的价值产生何种影响，特朗普希望这些账户能成为他政治遗产的标志性部分。
So far, 6 million children have been signed up for Trump Accounts, which officially launch next week on Independence Day. Trump accounts are a new type of individual retirement account available to any child under 18 with a Social Security number, and parents can sign up their kids through a Trump Accounts app that’s already available for download. As an extra perk, any child born between 2025 and 2028 can receive a one-time $1,000 contribution from the government. Although these accounts are subject to more restrictions and penalties than other kinds of IRAs, the Trump administration has hyped the creation of Trump Accounts as “the most historic policy for American families in decades.”
到目前为止，已有 600 万名儿童注册了“特朗普账户”，该账户将于下周独立日正式启动。特朗普账户是一种新型个人退休账户，适用于任何拥有社会安全号码的 18 岁以下儿童。家长可以通过现已开放下载的“特朗普账户”应用程序为孩子注册。作为额外福利，任何在 2025 年至 2028 年间出生的儿童均可获得政府一次性提供的 1,000 美元缴款。尽管这些账户比其他类型的个人退休账户（IRA）受到更多限制和处罚，但特朗普政府仍大肆宣传“特朗普账户”的设立是“几十年来对美国家庭最具历史意义的政策”。
The key benefit is the opportunity to receive more contributions beyond what families can afford to set aside, the Trump Accounts page said, explaining that families can contribute up to $5,000 annually, which can then “automatically be invested in American companies” that the government deems “proven winners.” “The app lets you see exactly what stocks they own and how they’re performing,” the Trump Accounts page said, while playing on parents’ heartstrings by promising that “big things start with small steps.”
“特朗普账户”页面称，其核心优势在于除了家庭能够负担的储蓄外，还有机会获得更多缴款。页面解释说，家庭每年最多可存入 5,000 美元，这些资金随后将“自动投资于”政府认为“久经考验的赢家”的美国公司。“该应用程序让你能清楚地看到他们持有哪些股票以及表现如何，”页面写道，同时通过承诺“大事始于小步”来打动家长们的心。
There have been some donations already, including $6.25 billion from billionaire Michael Dell and his wife, Susan. And Semafor reported that companies, including BlackRock and Bank of America, have agreed to match employee donations. But the long-term outlook is murky, as insiders suggest that Trump is exploring public-benefit initiatives to combat growing anti-AI sentiment. As one option, sources told Semafor that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has favored creating a sovereign wealth fund seeded by leading AI firms. Bernie Sanders has suggested that move could give Americans more control over the AI industry. Another option, sources told Semafor, is for the US to take equity stakes in AI firms, an idea Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly floated.
目前已经收到了一些捐赠，包括亿万富翁迈克尔·戴尔（Michael Dell）及其妻子苏珊（Susan）捐赠的 62.5 亿美元。Semafor 报道称，贝莱德（BlackRock）和美国银行（Bank of America）等公司已同意匹配员工的捐赠。但长期前景尚不明朗，内部人士暗示，特朗普正在探索公共利益倡议，以应对日益增长的反人工智能情绪。消息人士告诉 Semafor，作为一种选择，商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克（Howard Lutnick）倾向于创建一个由领先 AI 公司注资的主权财富基金。伯尼·桑德斯（Bernie Sanders）曾表示，此举可以让美国人对 AI 行业拥有更多控制权。消息人士告诉 Semafor，另一个选择是让美国政府持有 AI 公司的股权，据报道，财政部长斯科特·贝森特（Scott Bessent）曾提出过这一想法。
Earlier this month, three sources told the news outlet NOTUS that senior US officials had already discussed “the potential for the federal government to acquire some shares in their firms.” Those “discussions have centered on having the firms voluntarily cede the shares to the government,” NOTUS’s sources said, with any returns on investments then distributed to public purposes. That could look like “a dividend payment to all American households,” NOTUS suggested, or it could be invested to increase the value of Trump Accounts. NOTUS’s sources did not reveal which AI firms were involved in discussions of voluntarily ceding equity stakes, but NOTUS confirmed that Anthropic was not among them. SpaceX did not immediately respond to Ars’ request to comment on Semafor’s report.
本月早些时候，三位消息人士告诉新闻媒体 NOTUS，美国高级官员已经讨论过“联邦政府收购这些公司部分股份的可能性”。NOTUS 的消息人士称，这些“讨论的核心是让公司自愿将股份转让给政府”，投资收益随后将分配用于公共目的。NOTUS 建议，这可能表现为“向所有美国家庭发放股息”，或者将其投资以增加“特朗普账户”的价值。NOTUS 的消息人士没有透露哪些 AI 公司参与了关于自愿转让股权的讨论，但 NOTUS 证实 Anthropic 不在其中。SpaceX 没有立即回应 Ars 对 Semafor 报道的置评请求。
Obstacles to SpaceX donation
SpaceX 捐赠面临的障碍
Whether Trump can convince SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to donate to Trump Accounts remains to be seen. But Musk’s space technology company is intent on driving the kind of AI innovation that Trump himself has claimed could generate wealth for all Americans, starting at birth. This month, SpaceX completed its record-setting IPO and is now valued at $2.2 万亿 due to its AI potential. If SpaceX made a substantial donation to Trump Accounts, the gesture (and the dollar amount) could signal how far Musk is willing to go to win back Trump’s goodwill after a falling-out last year.
特朗普能否说服 SpaceX 首席执行官埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）向“特朗普账户”捐款还有待观察。但马斯克的这家太空技术公司正致力于推动那种特朗普本人所宣称的、能从出生起就为所有美国人创造财富的 AI 创新。本月，SpaceX 完成了创纪录的首次公开募股（IPO），由于其在 AI 领域的潜力，目前估值已达 2.2 万亿美元。如果 SpaceX 向“特朗普账户”进行大额捐赠，这一举动（以及捐赠金额）可能表明，在去年闹翻之后，马斯克愿意走多远来赢回特朗普的好感。
However, Musk may not be looking to play into the narrative that the public deserves to benefit from the success of leading technology firms. In a report on a brief dip in SpaceX’s stock amid rumors of an impending SpaceX donation, Yahoo Finance noted that Musk recently “pushed back against claims that government support helped build Tesla and SpaceX,” calling them “totally false.” According to Musk, “every government incentive his companies ever received amounted to ‘less than 2 percent’ of the value of Tesla and SpaceX,” Yahoo Finance reported.
然而，马斯克可能并不想迎合那种“公众理应从领先科技公司的成功中获益”的叙事。在关于 SpaceX 因即将捐赠的传闻导致股价短暂下跌的报道中，雅虎财经指出，马斯克最近“反驳了政府支持帮助建立了特斯拉和 SpaceX 的说法”，称其“完全错误”。据雅虎财经报道，马斯克表示，“他的公司所获得的所有政府激励措施加起来，还不到特斯拉和 SpaceX 价值的 2%”。
The Trump administration could also face obstacles beyond companies’ resistance to striking stock deals for public benefit. No one is sure what complications may arise from “the US trying to effectively regulate something it partially owns,” NOTUS reported, and such deals could “arguably” increase “incentives for a federal bailout.” There may also be no legal mechanism yet “for any AI firm to turn over equity to the government,” NOTUS reported. Nat Purser, a senior policy advocate for AI policy at Public Knowledge, told NOTUS that the public should be cautious in embracing policies that create “a situation where the government becomes less willing to impose, or enforce, safety rules because doing so could reduce the value of its own investment.” “The problem is that the government would be a shareholder and a regulator at the same time, which creates substantial conflicts of interest,” Purser said.
除了企业抵制为公共利益达成股票交易外，特朗普政府还可能面临其他障碍。据 NOTUS 报道，没有人确定“美国试图有效监管其部分拥有的事物”会带来什么复杂情况，而且此类交易“可以说”会增加“联邦救助的动机”。NOTUS 还报道称，目前可能还没有“任何 AI 公司向政府移交股权”的法律机制。公共知识组织（Public Knowledge）的 AI 政策高级倡导者纳特·珀瑟（Nat Purser）告诉 NOTUS，公众在接受那些创造“政府因担心降低自身投资价值而不愿实施或执行安全规则”的政策时应保持谨慎。“问题在于，政府将同时成为股东和监管者，这会产生重大的利益冲突，”珀瑟说。
Meanwhile, some parents have reported issues with using the Trump Accounts app. Several reviews in the Apple App Store complained that there is “no customer support” to help after errors blocked signups. One reviewer claimed the text message verification was broken. Others reached tech support but still became frustrated and felt they had to solve their own issues. One reviewer complained about the app crashing after “a clerical error whe…”
与此同时，一些家长报告了在使用“特朗普账户”应用程序时遇到的问题。苹果应用商店中的几条评论抱怨称，在错误导致注册受阻后，“没有客户支持”提供帮助。一位评论者声称短信验证功能无法使用。其他人联系了技术支持，但仍然感到沮丧，觉得必须自己解决问题。一位评论者抱怨该应用程序在出现“文书错误”后崩溃……