Trace

Future of Life Institute

futureoflife.org · organization · FLI, Future of Life Institute (FLI)

AI safetyAI governance, policy, and advocacyOther existential riskAI safety fieldbuilding

Received
$578,416,672
from 6 funders
Grants
30
Funders
6
Years active
2014–24

Grants over time

$0$200M$400M$600M20142015201620172018201920202021202220232024

Biggest funders

Vitalik Buterin$549,531,67295%1
Lightcone Foundation$25,300,0004%2
Coefficient Giving$1,912,0000%6
Jaan Tallinn$1,663,0000%18
Jed McCaleb$10,0000%1

Biggest recipients

Future of Life Institute Europe$180,297,07940%1
Lightcone Foundation$56,518,05813%2
Future of Life Foundation$25,025,0006%1
Improve the News Foundation$8,300,0002%3
LawZero$5,000,0001%1
International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI)$3,800,0001%2
Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA)$2,300,0001%1
FAR AI$1,858,0000%1

Grants received

DateFunderViaAmountCauseSourcePurpose
2024Lightcone Foundation$21,050,000AI safetylightcone_990Grant reported in Lightcone Foundation’s 2024 Form 990 — Form 990 (2024)
2023Lightcone Foundation$4,250,000AI safetylightcone_990Charitable work in support of the Future of Life Foundation — Form 990 (2023)
Nov 8, 2021Jaan TallinnSurvival and Flourishing Fund$23,000AI safetyjaan_onlineGeneral support
Mar 24, 2021Jaan TallinnFounders Pledge$200,000AI safetyjaan_onlinePolicy research and advocacy on AI and other emerging technological risk
2021Vitalik Buterin$549,531,672AI safetyfli_990Donation of SHIB tokens; FLI’s Form 990 reports $549,531,672 of revenue for the 2021 tax year — Form 990 (2021)
Dec 2020Jaan TallinnSurvival and Flourishing Fund$23,000AI safetysffGeneral Support
Dec 2020Jaan TallinnSurvival and Flourishing Fund$347,000AI safety fieldbuildingsffGeneral Support
Nov 2020Coefficient Giving$176,000Other existential riskcoefficient_givingGeneral Support
Jul 30, 2020Jaan TallinnFounders Pledge$35,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDARPA advocacy campaign
Jun 2020Jaan TallinnSurvival and Flourishing Fund$30,000AI safety fieldbuildingsffGeneral Support
Jun 2020Jaan TallinnSurvival and Flourishing Fund$100,000AI safetysffGeneral Support
Jun 2020Jed McCalebSurvival and Flourishing Fund$10,000AI safety fieldbuildingsffGeneral Support
Oct 2019Coefficient Giving$100,000Other existential riskcoefficient_givingGeneral Support
Sep 2019Jaan TallinnSurvival and Flourishing Fund$130,000AI safetysffGeneral Support
Apr 22, 2019Jaan TallinnBerkeley Existential Risk Initiative$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineUnrestricted grant
Jun 2018Coefficient Giving$250,000Other existential riskcoefficient_givingGeneral Support
Apr 10, 2018Jaan TallinnBerkeley Existential Risk Initiative$300,000AI safetyjaan_onlineUnrestricted grant
Oct 27, 2017Jaan TallinnBerkeley Existential Risk Initiative$100,000AI safetyjaan_onlineUnrestricted grant
Oct 27, 2017Jaan TallinnBerkeley Existential Risk Initiative$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineUnrestricted grant
May 2017Coefficient Giving$100,000Other existential riskcoefficient_givingGeneral Support
Dec 30, 2016Jaan Tallinn$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDonation
Mar 2016Coefficient Giving$100,000Other existential riskcoefficient_givingGeneral Support
Mar 10, 2016Jaan Tallinn$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDonation
2016EA Giving GroupOther existential riskvipul_donationsActual date range: December 2015 to February 2016. Exact date, amount, or fraction not known, but it is the donee with the fourth highest amount donated out of six donees in this period
Oct 2, 2015Jaan Tallinn$25,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDonation
Aug 2015Coefficient Giving$1,186,000Advocacycoefficient_givingArtificial Intelligence Risk Reduction
Jan 16, 2015Jaan Tallinn$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDonation
2015EA Giving GroupOther existential riskvipul_donationsActual date range: December 2014 to December 2015. Exact date, amount, or fraction not known, but it is the donee with the second highest amount donated out of eight donees in this period
Dec 12, 2014Jaan Tallinn$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDonation
Jul 22, 2014Jaan Tallinn$50,000AI safetyjaan_onlineDonation

Grants made 211 · ~$450,434,769 · $2,408,742 average · 73% coverage

DateRecipientViaAmountCauseSourcePurpose
2026Matthew Niermann (Lausanne Movement)$50,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Lausanne Movement. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Sean Pan (Project Imago Dei)$47,500AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Project Imago Dei. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Medlir Mema (Faith Matters)$125,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Faith Matters. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Yaqub Chaudhary (MOUATANA)$128,970AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — MOUATANA. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Elizabeta Kitanovic (Facta est Lux)$50,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Facta est Lux. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Diana Kirui (ILINA Project)$90,671AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — ILINA Project. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Marc Barnes (New Polity)$100,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — New Polity. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Richard GibsonWheaton College$55,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Wheaton College. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Octavian MachidonUniversity of Ljubljana$100,050AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — University of Ljubljana. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Michael Graham (Gospel Coalition)$200,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Gospel Coalition. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Lauren Daugherty (American Shield)$56,980AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — American Shield. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Sara Speicher (World Council of Churches)$100,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — World Council of Churches. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Geoffrey Mitelman (Sinai and Synapses)$100,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Sinai and Synapses. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Impact Academy$201,105AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Impact Academy. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Amana Raqub (IBA Karachi)$50,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — IBA Karachi. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
2026Father Gregory-Telemachos Stamkopoulos (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)$105,000AdvocacyfliReligious project on AGI race challenges — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. — Religious Projects on AGI Race Challenges RFP
Dec 2025Clémence PeyrotOthergrantmaking_aiGrant from the Future of Life Institute to PauseAI Global (Stichting PauseAI), for building grassroots organizing networks. Part of it funded the salary of Pause IA France's Executive Director from December 2025 until around April 2026. We were not the direct grantee: the funding went to Global, which passed some of it on to us. Global no longer has the treasury to continue this, so Pause IA France now covers that salary in full.
Jun 3, 2025LawZero~$5,000,000*Technical AI safety researchorg_reportedLaunch funding for LawZero
2025Talos Network$129,000Other existential riskfliTalos Fellowship launching European policy careers focused on safe AI deployment. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025Palisade Research$500,000AdvocacyfliRaising awareness about superhuman AI risks. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025National Association of Voice Actors$300,000AdvocacyfliGlobal Creatives AI Summit. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Blueprint for Free Speech$345,000AdvocacyfliMobilizing trade unions in Germany and Greece on AI worker protections. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Ruofei WangInternational governance, Training pipelinesfliUS-China AI Governance PhD Fellow, Class of 2025 — University of Southern Denmark. Fellowship covers tuition/fees plus $40,000 annual stipend and $10,000 research fund; per-fellow total not published. — US-China AI Governance PhD Fellowship
2025Economic Security Project Inc.$500,000AdvocacyfliSacramento policy fights against Big Tech dominance. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Samyak JainTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2025 — UC Berkeley. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2025Institute for Security and Technology$484,050AdvocacyfliReligious communities AI ethics education resources. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI)$1,950,000International governancefliGeneral support addressing AI risks and ensuring safe, ethical AI systems and policy development. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025Foresight Institute$485,000Other existential riskfliExpansion of Existential Hope program creating actionable visions for beneficial technology development. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025Bureau of Investigative Journalism$487,000Other existential riskfli'Unmasking AI' initiative examining AI ecosystem threats, Big Tech-government ties, and policy influence. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025International Nuclear Heuristics Research (INHR)$150,000AdvocacyfliU.S.-China-EU AI Safety Dialogue project. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Institute for Family Studies$550,000Other existential riskfli'Pro-Family, Pro-Human AI' project guiding AI development to protect human and family interests. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025PauseAI US$200,000AdvocacyfliPublic awareness and community engagement for responsible AI. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Common Sense Media$500,000AdvocacyfliBuilding Parent Power for AI Safety initiative. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA)$2,300,000Technical AI safety research, AdvocacyfliGeneral support for lowering transformative AI risks through research and advocacy. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025Kayla BlomquistInternational governance, Training pipelinesfliUS-China AI Governance PhD Fellow, Class of 2025 — University of Oxford. Per-fellow total not published. — US-China AI Governance PhD Fellowship
2025Faith Matters Foundation$174,000Other existential riskfli'Organized Intelligence' exploring ethical and spiritual dimensions of AI from Latter-day Saint perspectives. — 2025 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2025Jared MooreTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2025 — Stanford University. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2025Mindstream Project$60,000AdvocacyfliEngaged Buddhists for Responsible AI Initiative. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025John FergusonInternational governance, Training pipelinesfliUS-China AI Governance PhD Fellow, Class of 2025 — University of Cambridge. Per-fellow total not published. — US-China AI Governance PhD Fellowship
2025Evitable$100,000AdvocacyfliPreventing superintelligence advancement and promoting AI scaling moratorium. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Young People's Alliance Education Fund$498,114AdvocacyfliBipartisan youth-led AI framework and coalition. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Stichting PauseAI$500,000AdvocacyfliCatalyst Project for grassroots organizing networks. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025Ekō$500,000AdvocacyfliAI Corporate Accountability Hub. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
2025AI Objectives Institute$206,000AdvocacyfliSupport for labor union engagement via Talk to the City platform. — Multistakeholder Engagement for Safe and Prosperous AI Grants
Dec 2024MilaSurvival and Flourishing Fund$23,000Other existential risksffGeneral support
Dec 2024University of Southern CaliforniaSurvival and Flourishing Fund$493,000Other existential risksffGeneral support
Dec 2024Worcester Polytechnic Institute & University of Massachusetts AmherstSurvival and Flourishing Fund$209,000Other existential risksffGeneral support
Dec 2024Center for AI Safety, Inc.Survival and Flourishing Fund$21,000Technical AI safety researchsffGeneral support
Dec 2024Oregon State UniversitySurvival and Flourishing Fund$254,000Other existential risksffGeneral support
Oct 25, 2024Effct$10,000AdvocacyfliPrize winner, '6 Magazine Covers from the Future: Warnings About the Dangers of Artificial (Super)intelligence'. — Superintelligence Imagined Creative Contest
Oct 25, 2024Marcus Eriksen, Vanessa Morrow, and Alberto Hidalgo$10,000AdvocacyfliPrize winner, 'ZARA MARS' (graphic novel). — Superintelligence Imagined Creative Contest
Oct 25, 2024Zeaus Koh and Nainika Gupta$10,000AdvocacyfliPrize winner, 'Superintelligence: The End of Humanity or Our Golden Age?' (video). — Superintelligence Imagined Creative Contest
Oct 25, 2024Karl von Wendt$10,000AdvocacyfliPrize winner, 'The Great Plan' (multi-media). — Superintelligence Imagined Creative Contest
Oct 25, 2024Dr Waku$10,000AdvocacyfliPrize winner, 'How AI threatens humanity, with Yoshua Bengio' (video). — Superintelligence Imagined Creative Contest
Oct 25, 2024Suzy Shepherd$20,000AdvocacyfliGrand Prize, 'Writing Doom' (short film) — Superintelligence Imagined creative contest. — Superintelligence Imagined Creative Contest
2024Formation Research$80,300EconomicsfliPredictive modeling for AI power 'lock-in' scenarios. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Convergence Analysis$280,000EconomicsfliProject to mitigate AI-driven power concentration. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024OpenMined Foundation$1,661,750EconomicsfliFederated infrastructure for data provider compensation and control. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024CalMatters and The Markup$350,000EconomicsfliMapping AI control patterns; tracking corporate lobbying efforts. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Federation of American Scientists$1,500,000Other existential riskfli18-month investigation of AI implications on global risk, including nuclear deterrence, bioengineering, and cyber security. — 2024 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2024Cambridge Existential Risk Initiative$157,565Economics, Other existential riskfliRisk index measuring AI-enabled power concentration across governments. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Luke BaileyTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2024 — Stanford University. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2024M. Oladoyin Odubanjo$15,000EvalsfliEvaluating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Health Outcomes in Nigeria — Nigerian Academy of Science. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Anton KorinekUniversity of Virginia$109,564EconomicsfliProfessor Anton Korinek's research on the economics of transformative AI. — 2024 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2024Nicholas Ngepah$15,000OtherfliMaternal Mortality impacts of AI — African Institute for Inclusive Growth, South Africa. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Metagov$15,000AI safetyfli_990Research into global governance institution design — Form 990 (2024)
2024Reeta Sharma$15,000OtherfliAI for Climate Resilience — The Energy and Resources Institute, India. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024The Elders$294,160Other existential riskfliSupport for Long-View Leadership project addressing intractable problems through evidence-based decisions. — 2024 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2024Mila$446,762EconomicsfliSimulations testing defenses against AI-powered discourse manipulation. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Nandi SchootsTraining pipelinesfliPostdoctoral Fellow, Class of 2024 — Oxford University. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin Postdoctoral Fellowship
2024Collective Intelligence Project$400,000EconomicsfliProject to mitigate AI-driven power concentration. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Ekdeep Singh LubanaTraining pipelinesfliPostdoctoral Fellow, Class of 2024 — institution not listed on FLI page. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin Postdoctoral Fellowship
2024Surafel Tilahun$15,000OtherfliThe Impact of AI on Health — Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Ethiopia. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Patrick Owoche$15,000OtherfliThe Role of AI in Reducing Maternal Mortality — Kibabii University, Kenya. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024José Villalobos Ruiz$15,000International governance, LegalfliInternational Treaty on the Prohibition of Misaligned Artificial General Intelligence — Institute for Law & AI and Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, Costa Rica. — Designs for Global Institutions Governing AI RFP
2024Project Libertas$395,600EconomicsfliMapping AI surveillance vulnerabilities and governance interventions. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Angira SharmaTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2024 — Oxford University. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2024International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI)$1,850,000Other existential riskfliGeneral support for nonprofit ensuring AI systems operate safely and ethically. — 2024 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2024Wise Ancestors$169,000AI safetyfli_990Conservation of Earth’s biodiversity for the benefit of all — Form 990 (2024)
2024Center for Collective Intelligence Design$460,096EconomicsfliProject to mitigate AI-driven power concentration. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Peace Research and Education Program$350,000EconomicsfliProject to mitigate AI-driven power concentration. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Andrés García-Suaza$15,000OtherfliThe future of work and inequality — Universidad del Rosario, Colombia. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Haydn Belfield$15,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliIAEA and CERN for AI — University of Cambridge, UK. — Designs for Global Institutions Governing AI RFP
2024Justin Bullock$15,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliA Global AGI Agency — University of Washington, USA. — Designs for Global Institutions Governing AI RFP
2024Surekha Tetali$15,000OtherfliAssessing the role of AI in heat mitigation and adaptation — Mahindra University, India. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Institute for Law & AI$15,000Legalfli_990Research into global governance institution design — Form 990 (2024)
2024Future Coalition$25,000Advocacyfli_990Advocacy for a future with human-centered artificial intelligence — Form 990 (2024)
2024Uroš Ćemalović$15,000OtherfliAI and education on climate change mitigation — Center for Ecology and Sustainability, Serbia. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Institute for Security and Technology$242,981EconomicsfliFramework for antitrust enforcement balancing security concerns. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Katharina Zuegel$15,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliFair Trade AI — Forum on Information and Democracy, France. — Designs for Global Institutions Governing AI RFP
2024Center for AI Safety, Inc.$500,000Technical AI safety researchfliDeveloping tamper-resistant safeguards for open-weight language models. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024Encode$250,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliYoung people mobilizing policymakers for human-centered artificial intelligence. — 2024 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2024Joel Christoph$15,000International governancefliStable AGI Governance through the International AI Governance Organization (IAIGO) — European University Institute, Italy. — Designs for Global Institutions Governing AI RFP
2024Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists$315,975EconomicsfliInvestigating AI developer influence in politics, media, and the military. — Mitigate AI-Driven Power Concentration Grants
2024CAF America$619,861AI safety, Other existential riskfli_990Support for university research into the consequences of nuclear war — Form 990 (2024)
2024Longview Philanthropy$100,000AI safetyfli_990Finding solutions to collective action problems — Form 990 (2024)
2024Sumaya Nur Adan$15,000Evals, AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliEvaluating Impact and Scaling Progress through Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships — Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, UK. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Joshua Tan$15,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliThe Practical Bengio (network of publicly-funded AI labs for safe AGI) — Metagov and University of Oxford, USA. — Designs for Global Institutions Governing AI RFP
2024Marko Grobelnik$15,000OtherfliAn AI-driven Observatory Against Poverty — International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (UNESCO/JSI), Slovenia. — Impact of AI on Sustainable Development Goals RFP
2024Tarbell Center for AI Journalism$150,000Other existential riskfliFunding established journalists for original reporting on current and future harms from AI. — 2024 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2024Unknown RecipientsSilicon Valley Community Foundation$2,470,096AI safety, Other existential riskfli_990Granted to a donor-advised fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation — support sponsored projects encode, tarbell, the elders, the collective intelligence project, and university research into the consequences of nuclear war — Form 990 (2024)
Oct 26, 2023Centre for Long-Term ResilienceSurvival and Flourishing Fund$769,000Other existential risksffGeneral Support of The Centre for Long-Term Resilience (Alpenglow Group Limited)
Oct 26, 2023Oxford China Policy LabSurvival and Flourishing Fund$252,000Other existential risksffGeneral Support of Oxford China Policy Lab
Oct 26, 2023AI ImpactsSurvival and Flourishing Fund$162,000Other existential risksffGeneral Support of AI Impacts
Oct 26, 2023The Future Society, Inc.Survival and Flourishing Fund$365,000Other existential risksffGeneral Support
2023Improve the News Foundation$2,100,000Otherfli_990Grant to support ITN’s efforts to improve the informational ecosystem — Form 990 (2023)
2023Susan Solomon$283,857Other existential riskfliHalogen-catalyzed reactions on smoke destroy the ozone layer after regional nuclear war — MIT. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Christian Folberth$462,024Other existential riskfliAdvanced ensemble projections for indirect impacts of nuclear war in global food systems — IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Kayo YinTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2023 — UC Berkeley. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2023Yawen DuanTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2023 — University of Cambridge. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2023AI Policy HubUniversity of California, Berkeley$600,000AI governance, policy, and advocacy, AI safety fieldbuildingfliFunding for AI Policy Hub training next-generation AI policy talent. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Redwood Research$500,000FoundationsfliGeneral support for theoretical and applied AI alignment research. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Peter S. ParkTraining pipelinesfliPostdoctoral Fellow, Class of 2023 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin Postdoctoral Fellowship
2023Alex Wellerstein$144,992Other existential riskfliTARGETMAP: A Tool for Generating Nuclear War Scenarios — Stevens Institute of Technology. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Francesco S.R. Pausata$450,000Other existential riskfliConstraining Nuclear War Fire Emissions and their Impacts on the Climate System — University of Quebec in Montreal. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Alan Robock$500,000Other existential riskfliImpacts of Nuclear War on Agriculture and Global Food Security — Rutgers University. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023FAR AI$1,858,000Technical AI safety researchfliGeneral support for neglected, high-potential AI safety research agendas. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Collective Intelligence Project$150,000Technical AI safety research, AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliSupport for Alignment Assemblies for Legitimate AI Governance project. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023James Haywood$272,000Other existential riskfliStratospHeric aerosol Impacts under Various nuclEaR conflict scenarios (SHIVER) — University of Exeter & Hadley Centre. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Nicole Lovenduski$494,534Other existential riskfliThe cascading impacts of postnuclear ultraviolet radiation on photosynthesizers in the Earth system — University of Colorado Boulder. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023AI Objectives Institute$500,000Other existential riskfliSupport for Talk to the City and Moral Mirror projects on AI dynamics and human values. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Existential Risk LaboratoryUniversity of Chicago$380,000Other existential riskfliSupport for Existential Risk Laboratory fellowship and coursework initiatives. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023The Future Society, Inc.$365,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliGeneral support for nonprofit focused on AI governance. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative$481,000Other existential riskfliCollaboration with Center for Human-Compatible AI to develop beneficial AI systems. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Centre for Long-Term Resilience$769,000Other existential riskfliGeneral support for UK-based think tank improving governance of extreme risks. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Owen Toon$500,000Other existential riskfliStudies of Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Conflicts — University of Colorado at Boulder. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Center for AI Safety, Inc.$22,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliGeneral support for equipping leaders with tools to manage AI risk. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Adam Kochanski$450,127Other existential riskfliWUDAPT-based framework for numerical simulations of nuclear urban fires and pyroconvective plumes — San Jose State University. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Ought$358,000Other existential riskfliGeneral support for mechanisms delegating reasoning to ML systems. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Foresight Institute$290,000Other existential riskfliSupport for Existential Hope and Tech Tree Programs. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Caspar OesterheldTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2023 — Carnegie Mellon University. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2023CAF America$292,264AI safetyfli_990To support sponsored projects teeside university, uqam foundation and international institute for applied systems analysis — Form 990 (2023)
2023Christoph Müller$500,000Other existential riskfliImproving the representation of crop production losses due to nuclear conflict (CODEC) — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. — Nuclear War Research Grants
2023Lightcone Foundation$6,511,558AI safetyfli_990Grant to fund lightcone foundation — Form 990 (2023)
2023Oxford China Policy Lab$252,000Other existential riskfliGeneral support for mitigating risks from US-China competition in AI. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023METR$1,401,000EvalsfliFunding for Evals Team building capability and alignment evaluations for advanced ML models. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2023Center for Humane Technology$500,000AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliSupport for AI policy work and messaging cohesion within the AI risk community. — 2023 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2022Future of Life Foundation$25,025,000AI safetyfli_990Grant to establish and fund the Future of Life Foundation — Form 990 (2022)
2022Alexander PanTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — UC Berkeley. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Wise Ancestors$1,113,685Other existential riskfliPlatform combining genomic sequencing, biobanking, and Indigenous Knowledge to create, fund and complete Conservation Challenges. — 2022 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2022Lightcone Foundation$50,006,500AI safetyfli_990Grant to establish the Lightcone Foundation — Form 990 (2022)
2022Centre for the Study of Existential RiskUniversity of Cambridge$1,000,000BiosecurityfliCentre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER): funded director position and research on catastrophic risks including climate, pandemics, and AI. — 2022 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2022Erik JonesTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — UC Berkeley. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Usman AnwarTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — University of Cambridge. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022AI Policy HubUniversity of California, Berkeley$450,000AI governance, policy, and advocacy, Training pipelinesfliAI Policy Hub: training graduate researchers in AI policy via fellowship, mentorship and policymaker connections. — 2022 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2022Stephen CasperTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Good Ventures Foundation$161,865AI safetyfli_990Support for ai fellowship program supporting promising machine learning researchers — Form 990 (2022)
2022Erik JennerTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — UC Berkeley. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Xin Cynthia ChenTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — ETH Zurich. Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Zhijing JinTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — University of Toronto (as listed by FLI). Per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Improve the News Foundation$2,950,000Otherfli_990Grant to support ITN’s efforts to improve the informational ecosystem — Form 990 (2022)
2022Johannes TreutleinTraining pipelinesfliPhD Fellow, Class of 2022 — UC Berkeley. Fellowship covers tuition/fees plus $40,000 annual stipend and $10,000 research fund; per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship
2022Unknown Recipients~$110,689,770Otherfund_estimatesAggregate estimate — other causes
2022Foresight Institute$1,000,000Other existential riskfliExistential Hope project: resources, projects and organizations for beneficial development of high-impact technology. — 2022 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2022Nisan StiennonTraining pipelinesfliPostdoctoral Fellow, Class of 2022 — UC Berkeley, Center for Human-Compatible AI. Fellowship provides an $80,000 annual stipend plus $10,000 research fund; per-fellow total not published. — Vitalik Buterin Postdoctoral Fellowship
2022Future of Life Institute Europe$180,297,079AI safetyfli_990Establishing and funding Europe-based affiliate (Schedule F, Europe) — Form 990 (2022)
2022Hollywood, Health & SocietyUniversity of Southern California$170,000Other existential riskfliHollywood, Health & Society program: entertainment-industry education on nuclear weapons risks and irresponsible uses of AI; BlueSky Screenwriting Competition. — 2022 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2021Unknown Recipients~$45,246Otherfund_estimatesAggregate estimate — other causes
2021Improve the News Foundation$3,250,000OtherfliGeneral support for work toward less hate and more understanding, reasoned compassion, constructive discourse, and well-informed decision-making. — 2021 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2021The Future Society, Inc.$120,000Other existential riskfliGeneral support for independent nonprofit working to align AI through better governance. — 2021 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2021Unknown RecipientsSilicon Valley Community Foundation$10,000,000AI safetyfli_990Granted to a donor-advised fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation — charitable work in support of fli's mission — Form 990 (2021)
2021Wise Ancestors$106,000Other existential riskfliPilot funding for platform combining genomic sequencing, biobanking, and Indigenous Knowledge for biodiversity conservation. — 2021 Grants (Existential Risk Reduction / Institutional Grants)
2018Josh Tenenbaum$150,000Technical AI safety researchfliReverse Engineering Fair Cooperation — MIT — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Centre for the Governance of AI, Inc.AI governance, policy, and advocacyorg_reportedour funders--including...and the Future of Life Institute
2018Jose Hernandez-Orallo$220,000Technical AI safety researchfliParadigms of Artificial General Intelligence and Their Associated Risks — University of Cambridge — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Dorsa Sadigh$250,000Technical AI safety researchfliSafe Learning and Verification of Human-AI Systems — Stanford University — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Allan Dafoe$276,000Technical AI safety research, AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliGovernance of AI Programme — Yale University — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Marcus Hutter$276,000Technical AI safety researchfliThe Control Problem for Universal AI: A Formal Investigation — Australian National University — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018James Miller$78,289Technical AI safety researchfliUtility Functions: A Guide for Artificial General Intelligence Theorists — Smith College — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Stefano Ermon$100,000Technical AI safety researchfliValue Alignment and Multi-agent Inverse Reinforcement Learning — Stanford University — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018The Anh Han$224,747Technical AI safety researchfliIncentives for Safety Agreement Compliance in AI Race — Teesside University — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Peter Stone$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliAd hoc Teamwork and Moral Feedback as a Framework for Safe Robot Behavior — University of Texas — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
2018Owain Evans$225,000Technical AI safety researchfliFactored Cognition: Amplifying Human Cognition for Safely Scalable AGI — Oxford University — 2018 AGI Safety Grants
Sep 1, 2015Andre PlatzerCarnegie Mellon University$200,000Foundationsvipul_donationsA project grant. Project title: Andre Platzer.
2015Adrian Weller$50,000Technical AI safety researchfliInvestigation of Self-Policing AI Agents — University of Cambridge — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Stefano Ermon$250,000Technical AI safety researchfliRobust probabilistic inference engines for autonomous agents — Stanford University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Fuxin Li$121,642Technical AI safety researchfliUnderstanding when a deep network is going to be wrong — Georgia Institute of Technology — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Benja Fallenstein$250,000Technical AI safety researchfliAligning Superintelligence With Human Interests — Machine Intelligence Research Institute — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Vincent Conitzer$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliHow to Build Ethics into Robust Artificial Intelligence — Duke University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Francesca Rossi$275,000Technical AI safety researchfliSafety Constraints and Ethical Principles in Collective Decision Making Systems — University of Padova — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Daniel Weld$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliComputational Ethics for Probabilistic Planning — University of Washington — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Paul Christiano$50,000Technical AI safety researchfliCounterfactual Human Oversight — University of California, Berkeley — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Peter Asaro$116,974Technical AI safety research, AI governance, policy, and advocacyfliRegulating Autonomous Artificial Agents: A Systematic Approach to Developing AI & Robot Policy — The New School — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Kaj Sotala$20,000Technical AI safety researchfliTeaching AI Systems Human Values Through Human-Like Concept Learning — Theiss Research — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Manuela Veloso$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliExplanations for Complex AI Systems — Carnegie Mellon University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Jacob Steinhardt$88,050Technical AI safety researchfliSummer Program in Applied Rationality and Cognition — Stanford University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Benjamin Rubinstein$98,532Evals, SecurityfliSecurity Evaluation of Machine Learning Systems — The University of Melbourne — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Katja Grace$49,310Technical AI safety researchfliAI Impacts — Machine Intelligence Research Institute — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Heather Roff$136,918Technical AI safety researchfliLethal Autonomous Weapons, Artificial Intelligence and Meaningful Human Control — University of Denver — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Anna Salamon$111,757Technical AI safety researchfliSpecialized rationality skills for the AI research community — Center for Applied Rationality — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Alex Aiken$100,813Technical AI safety researchfliVerifying Deep Mathematical Properties of AI Systems — Stanford University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Michael Wooldridge$125,000Technical AI safety researchfliTowards a Code of Ethics for AI Research — University of Oxford — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Seth Baum$100,000EvalsfliEvaluation of Safe Development Pathways for Artificial Superintelligence — Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015David Parkes$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliMechanism Design for AI Architectures — Harvard University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Michael Wellman$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliUnderstanding and Mitigating AI Threats to the Financial System — University of Michigan — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Wendell Wallach$180,000Technical AI safety researchfliControl and Responsible Innovation in the Development of Autonomous Machines — Yale University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Nick Bostrom$1,500,000Technical AI safety researchfliStrategic Research Center for Artificial Intelligence — University of Oxford — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Moshe Vardi$69,000Technical AI safety researchfliArtificial Intelligence and the Future of Work — Rice University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Michael Webb$76,318Technical AI safety researchfliOptimal Transition to the AI Economy — Stanford University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Percy Liang$255,160SecurityfliPredictable AI via Failure Detection and Robustness — Stanford University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Bas Steunebrink$196,650Technical AI safety researchfliExperience-based AI (EXPAI) — IDSIA — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Thomas Dietterich$200,000Technical AI safety researchfliRobust and Transparent Artificial Intelligence Via Anomaly Detection and Explanation — Oregon State University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Owain Evans$227,212Technical AI safety researchfliInferring Human Values: Learning 'Ought', not 'Is' — University of Oxford — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Long Ouyang$99,750Technical AI safety researchfliDemocratizing Programming: Synthesizing Valid Programs with Recursive Bayesian Inference — Theiss Research — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Bart Selman$24,950Technical AI safety researchfliScaling-up AI Systems: Insights From Computational Complexity — Cornell University — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Brian Ziebart$134,247Technical AI safety researchfliTowards Safer Inductive Learning — University of Illinois at Chicago — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Ramana Kumar$36,750FoundationsfliApplying Formal Verification to Reflective Reasoning — University of Cambridge — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Seth Herd$98,400Technical AI safety researchfliStability of Neuromorphic Motivational Systems — University of Colorado — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Stuart Russell$342,727Technical AI safety researchfliValue Alignment and Moral Metareasoning — University of California, Berkeley — 2015 AI Safety Grants
2015Owen Cotton-Barratt$119,670Technical AI safety researchfliDecision-relevant uncertainty in AI safety — Centre for Effective Altruism, Oxford — 2015 AI Safety Grants
Machine Intelligence Research Institute$412,252Foundationsorg_reportedRecent top contributor; cumulative contributions over the past 5 years incl. matching

* LawZero launched in June 2025 naming the Future of Life Institute, Coefficient Giving (then Open Philanthropy) and Schmidt Sciences among its backers without a split; $15m of its roughly $30m of launch funding is attributed here, divided evenly between the three. Jaan Tallinn's share is recorded as his grant to Safe AI for Humanity via Mila, and the remainder arrived through Mila, which incubated LawZero.

Future of Life Institute's Form 990 reports $372,863,899 of grants paid in 2022; grants itemized in this database are subtracted from the total.

Future of Life Institute's Form 990 reports $13,521,246 of grants paid in 2021; grants itemized in this database are subtracted from the total.