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Coefficient Giving

Navigating Transformative AI

Though advances in AI could benefit people enormously, we think they also pose serious risks from misuse, accidents, loss of control, and other problems.

  • 570+
    grants made

Contents

About the Fund

Program Leads

Partners

Interested in providing funding within this space? Reach out to partnerwithus@coefficientgiving.org.

In recent years, we’ve seen rapid progress in artificial intelligence. There’s a strong possibility that AI systems will soon outperform humans in nearly all cognitive domains.

We think AI could be the most important technological development in human history. If handled well, it could accelerate scientific discovery, improve health outcomes, and create unprecedented prosperity. If handled poorly, it could lead to catastrophic consequences: many experts think that risks from AI-related misuse, loss of control, or drastic societal change could endanger human civilization.

To reduce the risk of global catastrophe and help society prepare for major advances in AI, we support:

  • Technical AI safety research aimed at making advanced AI systems more trustworthy, robust, controllable, and aligned
  • AI governance and policy work to develop frameworks for safe, secure, and responsibly managed AI development
  • Capacity building to grow and strengthen the field of researchers and practitioners working on these challenges
  • New projects that we expect to be particularly impactful if timelines to transformative AI are short

A Call for Founders

Project Tailwind

We’re looking for exceptional people to engage seriously with the risks of transformative AI, and to launch the institutions that will help humanity navigate them. Our grantmakers have published a list of high-priority projects — but we expect the very best founders will have strong opinions on the best approach to reduce catastrophic AI risks, and we want to hear them.

Learn more
Project Tailwind

Funding Opportunities

  • Request for Proposals

    Capacity Building

    This program funds projects that build society’s capacity to navigate the risks of transformative AI. We’re especially interested in funding projects that help new talent pivot into the field, support existing talent (e.g. via events that help build professional networks), and contribute to the discourse about transformative AI and its possible benefits and risks.

    Learn more and apply

  • This program provides support — in the form of funding for graduate study, unpaid internships, independent study, career transition and exploration periods, and other activities — for individuals at any career stage who want to pursue careers that could help to reduce global catastrophic risks.

    Learn more and apply

  • Request for Proposals

    Technical AI Safety

    We are actively looking for founders to launch new research organizations through Project Tailwind. If you need to contact our technical AI safety grantmakers about something else, you can reach them at technicalaisafety@coefficientgiving.org.

Research & Updates

  • We’re at a critical moment: transformative AI may arrive soon, and the world isn’t ready for it. Over the past year and a half, we’ve been changing how we work so that we can act at the speed the situation demands. We’re giving substantially more, making faster decisions, and supporting our grantees as they raise their ambitions.
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  • Our AI safety strategy has evolved significantly since 2015, moving from early field-building to a comprehensive three-pillar approach: improving visibility into AI capabilities through evaluations and forecasting, developing technical and policy safeguards against catastrophic risks, and building the talent pipeline and institutional capacity the field urgently needs.
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  • We sat down with three grantmakers across a selection of our Global Catastrophic Risks (GCR) teams — Abbey Chaver, who specializes in infosecurity; Trevor Levin, who focuses on AI Governance & Policy; and Chris Bakerlee from our Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness fund — to hear about what fills their days, how grants actually get made, and how they ended up at Coefficient Giving.

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