Our mission is to steer transformative technology towards benefiting life and away from extreme large-scale risks.

Announcing our Fellowship on AI for Human Reasoning

Application Deadline June 9th

Our Main Approach

First, perform research to identify gaps in the landscape of efforts to fulfill our mission.

Second, determine what new organizations should exist to address these challenges.

Third, targeted headhunting to identify people to found the specific ideas we select.

Finally, provide various forms of support to ease the process of starting the new organization and increase the likelihood of success.

→ We aim to help start 3 to 5 new organizations per year.

  • A colorful geometric poster with a silhouette of a person's profile and text reading 'Operations Director C4 Specialist'.

    We're Hiring!

    An Operations Manager & 501(c)(4) Specialist

    Click Here
  • A digital abstract art piece featuring a circular pattern, bar graphs, and spherical elements with metallic and glowing effects in shades of blue, orange, and gold.

    EOI: Critical Number

    Build a coordination tool offering safety in numbers

    Click Here
  • A digital abstract visualization of a network with hexagonal and circular shapes in blue and orange colors, connected by lines, resembling a technological or futuristic interface.

    EOI: Marketing Agency

    Found the first organization dedicated to applying marketing techniques to AI safety communications efforts.

    Click Here

Full-Time Staff Members & Board

  • President

    Anthony Aguirre is the President of the Future of Life Foundation. He is also the Executive Director at the Future of Life Institute and the Faggin Presidential Professor for the Physics of Information at UC Santa Cruz. He has done research in an array of topics in theoretical cosmology, gravitation, statistical mechanics, and other fields of physics. He also has strong interest in science outreach, and has appeared in numerous science documentaries. He is a creator of the science and technology prediction platform Metaculus.com, and is co-founder and President of the Foundational Questions Institute.

  • Chief Operating Officer

    Josh Jacobson is the Chief Operating Officer at the Future of Life Foundation. He has worked across organizational leadership, operations, and/or research for ARC Evals, FAR AI, Anthropic, on a research grant, for the Future for Humanity Institute (EpiFor), the Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative, the World Bank, SocialCops, Innovations for Poverty Action, the Centre for Effective Altruism, a tech startup, and PepsiCo. Josh is a Board Member at MATS and the Windfall Trust. Josh holds an MPA with a focus in Econometrics in International Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Government from Dartmouth College.

  • Researcher (AI Specialist)

    Oly is a Researcher (AI Specialist) at the Future of Life Foundation. He works on sourcing and developing ambitious ideas to build a flourishing future, grounded in realistic scenarios for AI and other technological development. He previously worked on loss of control threat modeling and evaluation at the UK AI Safety Institute, engaged with the UK's FCDO and OECD on AI governance, and researched language model agent oversight and multiagent safety at Oxford. Oly was one of the first beneficiaries of the MATS program in 2021-22 and now serves as a mentor. Before his AI safety work, he was a senior data scientist and software engineer.

  • Projects Lead

    Ben is the Projects Lead at the Future of Life Foundation. He focuses on launching new organizations dedicated to advancing beneficial technologies by coordinating ideas, funding, and people needed for these ventures. His experience spans roles at FAR.AI, Google, HASH, and various research teams. He also serves as a board member of PIBBSS and QURI.

  • Headhunter

    Elizabeth is the Headhunter and Recruitment Lead at the Future of Life Foundation. She previously started and directed a non-profit workshop center facilitating work on large-scale puzzles and problems. Before that, she facilitated and instructed workshops on epistemics, artificial intelligence safety, and problem-solving.

    1. Anthony Aguirre, bio above

    2. Max Tegmark, President of the Future of Life Institute, MIT Professor, & Author of Life 3.0 and Our Mathematical Universe

    3. Jaan Tallinn, Co-Founder of Skype, the Future of Life Institute, and the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

    4. Meia Chita-Tegmark, Co-Founder of the Future of Life Institute

We also work closely with some consultants and service providers.