Future of Life Institute (FLI) - Influence Watch

Future of Life Institute (FLI) - Influence Watch Future of Life Institute (FLI)

 The Future of Life Institute (FLI) works to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and nuclear weapons. It focuses on long-term threats such as human extinction and on ways to harness scientific breakthroughs to benefit humanity. Its main activities are advocacy and sponsored research. 1 2 

 Read More At-A-Glance

 Type: Non-profit , 501(c)(3) Issue Areas: Tech Policy Website: futureoflife.org Formation: 2014

 President: Max Tegmark

 Location: Campbell, CA View on map Tax ID: 47-1052538 Most Recent Filing: 2024 Budget (2024): Assets: $6,348,222 Revenue: $21,273,381 Expenses: $17,399,051 Contents

 Contents Advocacy

 Future of Life Institute lobbies to increase federal spending for artificial intelligence safety research and to “strengthen” the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. 3 It endeavors to fortify the European Union (EU) AI Act and to encourage member states to support a treaty on autonomous weapons. At the United Nations (UN) , it promotes creation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons. 4 

 FLI has published seven open letters addressed to world leaders calling attention to threats to humanity’s future and recommending countermeasures. 5 

 Its most recent letter targets the combined risks of climate change, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and “ungoverned” AI. It argues that “governments can get to work now to agree how to finance the transition to a safe and healthy future powered by clean energy, relaunch arms control talks to reduce the risk of nuclear war, save millions of lives by concluding an equitable pandemic treaty, and start to build the global governance needed to make AI a force for good, not a runaway risk.” The letter, jointly drafted with The Elders , was signed by former heads of state, Nobel laureates, UN officials, celebrities, and executives of global nonprofits including the president of Open Society Foundations (Open Society Institute) . 6 

 Research and Contests

 Future of Life Institute issues Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and runs contests on a variety of future-impacting topics. Recent RFPs call for “designs for global institutions governing AI” and “proposals evaluating the impact of AI on Poverty, Health, Energy and Climate SDGs .” 7 Previous grant awards ranged from $22,000 to a $1,401,000. It offers postdoctoral fellowships and funds film productions at partner organizations. 8 

 Partnerships

 Future of Life Institute’s key collaborators are the Future Society , the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) , Center for Human Compatible Artificial Intelligence, Center for a New American Security , IEEE, and Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. 4 

 It participates in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology AI Safety Institute Consortium, the Partnership on AI, and the Forum for Cooperation on Artif

... (truncated, 14 KB total)