00:00Compound interest, the eighth one of the world, some would say, and you're giving it with 250 million U.S. kids each getting a jumpstart of $250.
00:09Why is this the right act of philanthropy for you?
00:13Well, you know, our foundation has been focused on children since the beginning.
00:18And when this Invest America Act was passed earlier this year, you know, we saw it as a platform for companies and families and communities and philanthropists to contribute to these accounts.
00:34And as you probably know, you know, the government is giving $1,000 to every newborn in an account that will essentially go in the S&P 500 and compound over time.
00:44And when they're, you know, the child's 18, it becomes like an IRA.
00:48It could be used for education, to start a business, to start a family, for continued savings, to buy a home.
00:56And so what Susan and I wanted to do was help out some of the kids that weren't included in the government program.
01:05And so the kids that are 10 and under that live in zip codes where the median income is $150,000 or less that aren't in the government program, so think ages 2 to 10, we're going to give 25 million of those children $250 each in their account.
01:24And we hope that, you know, this, you know, inspires them and gives them hope and opportunity and prosperity.
01:36I've spoken with a number of other philanthropists.
01:38I believe you'll see some other significant gifts.
01:41And we know many companies are going to match the government's contribution, as Dell Technologies is certainly doing, and a number of companies have already announced.
01:49So we're super excited about what this can become over time as these accounts grow to be something significant.
01:58Tell us about that.
01:59Tell us about how you are calling on companies like you to match what many are calling the Trump accounts.
02:06But also, will those match what you're now doing for 2 to 10-year-olds, maybe 10-year-olds and above?
02:11Have you fielded many calls?
02:14Well, you know, we just announced this this morning.
02:18I did speak with a number of philanthropists in the weeks leading up to our announcement.
02:25And, you know, well, I won't speak for them.
02:27We'll let them make their own announcements.
02:30And they could be designed in a different way.
02:33I think you'll see some people adopting particular states or, you know, particular communities.
02:39And, in fact, we started with the idea of doing this only in the state of Texas.
02:44But then we decided to do it nationally.
02:47So there can be many varieties and alternatives here.
02:52But we do think that this will be catalytic and that more philanthropists and companies will join us over time.
03:03And, again, this is a platform for the future of these children.
03:09Is it a platform for more giving from philanthropies or from billionaires such as yourself via government?
03:16It's extraordinary sort of turn of events that hear you working directly with the Treasury, Michael.
03:21We've also seen Timothy Mellon at one point offering to help cover the costs of U.S. troops during the government shutdown.
03:27Will more people be pushed and think it's right to work through the federal government?
03:33Well, I would say we're not working through the federal government.
03:38We are giving $250 directly to 25 million children.
03:44And this is being executed.
03:48I think we've just had a technology issue there.
03:50But, Michael, this is being executed by the Treasury.
03:54When you think about how the process has been, you hope that it's, I understand, going to be seamless, going to be processes, going to be swift.
04:00How quickly do you think it will be in the hands of those children?
04:03And, indeed, will it be in alignment with the Trump account, so July of next year?
04:07Yeah, so on July 4th or, I think, 5th, actually, because the 4th is a holiday of next year, every parent will be able to claim the account for their child that's 18 and under.
04:27And originally, those accounts will be held in custody by a custody bank.
04:33And then, eventually, you'll be able to choose your bank or your brokerage that holds the account for you.
04:42And it's the property of the child.
04:44What banks, what asset managers have you been talking to?
04:47How do you think, from an infrastructure perspective, this would work, Michael?
04:51Right.
04:51I have not been having the conversations with the banks.
04:55Actually, a number of them have told me that they're interested in being the banks to hold these accounts.
05:01I think it will be, you know, all the major banks and, you know, the parents will be able to choose whichever their favorite bank or, you know, stock brokerage is.
05:14What's so interesting is this has bipartisan supporters, we understand, from letters being written just yesterday.
05:20Asking Corey Booker, as well as Ted Cruz, asking those to come alongside you, for corporates to invest alongside.
05:27That's right.
05:28That's right.
05:29I spoke with Senator Booker last night about this.
05:32I spoke with Senator Cruz about this earlier today.
05:36And there is completely bipartisan support for this idea.
05:40It's not a political initiative.
05:42This is about investing in children.
05:45And we think that's the smartest investment that we can make.
05:48Michael, why do you think it wasn't picked up earlier than this?
05:51Since 2021, shout out to Brad Gerstner, is almost his idea, this initiative.
05:57Why did it take this administration this time?
06:01Well, it's a great question.
06:02Brad did tell me about this in 2021.
06:05We talked to the prior administration about it.
06:07I think it's hard to get legislative action like this done, but now it's the law.
06:12And so here we are.
06:14And so we have a great opportunity for the future to build on this platform.
06:19You really have been focused on education and on kids, Michael, in your philanthropic work.
06:26You're also a man very focused on the world of artificial intelligence.
06:29What's life going to be like for these kids going forward, do you think?
06:32How much will they be allocating their money?
06:35How much will they be allocating their time?
06:36What does a work week look like, do you think?
06:40Well, it could be lots of debates about that.
06:45What I would say is that I would encourage kids and parents and educators to focus on the critical thinking skills
06:54and being able to analyze problems without the assistance of technology,
06:58but also use technology as a resource and as a tool.
07:03You know, at the heart of this debate really is as we get new and better tools,
07:09are we doing more work and solving more problems and discovering new science
07:18and progressing further in the world, growing the economy?
07:22Or are we doing the same amount of work with just fewer people because we have the tools?
07:26You could put me down for economic growth and prosperity as a result of these tools.
07:33Certainly there will be challenges and dislocations and retraining is certainly required.
07:39But from what I'm seeing, I think this is largely going to result in some really great outcomes.
07:47But again, it's not guaranteed success because of new technology.
07:55That dislocation, Michael, whose responsibility is that?
07:58Is that big tech's responsibility to retrain, to reskill, to help at least pay for it?
08:04Is it government's responsibility, education?
08:06I think it's a collective responsibility that we all have.
08:11I think every company has to reskill its workforce.
08:16I think the education system has to adapt and build the new skills and capabilities.
08:24And, you know, there's a role for all of us to play in that.
08:29And excuse me for this pivot, Michael, but, of course, many want to understand, of course,
08:34the focus on infrastructure from a money perspective here to kids.
08:38There's also the focus on the fact that stocks have to go up and to the right in the longer term
08:42for this to benefit those children.
08:44What do you think about a concern about an AI bubble?
08:47Are there's really reaping rewards from a productivity perspective?
08:50Or are we in some sort of bubble or circular finance concern for you?
08:57Certainly markets do fluctuate.
08:58And you know that well on Bloomberg because you report about it every single day.
09:04Long term, we think, you know, investing these accounts in the S&P 500 is a very good way to
09:15compound over time for these children.
09:19When I look at what's going on today in the enormous build out in AI,
09:25what I see is a lot more demand than supply for the ingredients.
09:31And certainly, you know, in our business and many of the companies in this enormous build out,
09:38business is very good because there's enormous demand for what these models are creating,
09:43which effectively is intelligence.
09:45And if you now have a tool that, you know, causes everyone in your company to have 15 more IQ points in their daily work,
09:53well, that's something you probably want as much as you can get.
09:57And so there's enormous demand here.
10:00I think next year we'll be in a situation very likely where the demand exceeds the supply
10:08in many of the critical ingredients that go into the most advanced systems that we're building.
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