Observations on the funding landscape of EA and AI safety

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2023·EA Forum·forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/RueHqBuBKQBtSYkzp/obser...

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Vilhelm Skoglund·Jona

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3/5

Good(3)

Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.

Rating inherited from publication venue: EA Forum

Useful as a 2023 snapshot of the AI safety and EA funding ecosystem post-FTX collapse; relevant for understanding resource constraints and organizational landscape shifts affecting the field.

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136

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eaforum

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Curated

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AI safetyCommunityBuilding effective altruismEffective givingFundraisingEffective altruism fundingBuilding the field of AI safetyFunding opportunitiesGrantmakingOpinion

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Importance: 45/100blog postanalysis

Summary

This post analyzes significant shifts in EA and AI safety funding as of October 2023, documenting the proliferation of new grantmaking bodies, funding gaps in EA infrastructure and AI safety, and the lasting impact of the FTX collapse on longtermist funding. It provides a snapshot of where money is flowing and where gaps exist, while acknowledging the analysis is preliminary and anecdotal.

Key Points

•Five new independent grantmaking bodies emerged in 2023, diversifying the EA funding ecosystem beyond Open Philanthropy.
•The FTX collapse caused a dramatic reduction in longtermist funding, creating lasting gaps in EA infrastructure and AI safety areas.
•Some funding constraints are capacity-based rather than financial, notably at Open Philanthropy, limiting grantmaking throughput.
•Increased activity in effective giving initiatives signals broader community engagement with funding allocation challenges.
•The analysis is explicitly preliminary and non-systematic, intended to prompt community discussion rather than serve as definitive coverage.

Cited by 3 pages

Page	Type	Quality
EA Institutions' Response to the FTX Collapse	--	53.0
Longtermism's Philosophical Credibility After FTX	--	50.0
FTX Collapse: Lessons for EA Funding Resilience	Concept	78.0

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# Observations on the funding landscape of EA and AI safety
By Vilhelm Skoglund, Jona
Published: 2023-10-02
*Epistemic status: Hot takes for discussion. These observations are a side product of another strategy project, rather than a systematic and rigorous analysis of the funding landscape, and we may be missing important considerations. Observations are also non-exhaustive and mostly come from anecdotal data and EA Forum posts. We haven’t vetted the resources that we are citing; instead, we took numerous data points at face value and asked for feedback from >5 people who have more of an inside view than we do (see acknowledgments, but note that these people do not necessarily endorse all claims). We aim to indicate our certainty in the specific claims we are making.*

Context and summary
===================

While researching for another project, we discovered that there have been some significant changes in the EA funding landscape this year. We found these changes interesting and surprising enough that we wanted to share them, to potentially help people update their model of the funding landscape. Note that this is not intended to be a comprehensive overview. Rather, we hope this post triggers a discussion about updates and considerations we might have missed.

We first list some observations about funding in the EA community in general. Then, we zoom in on AI safety, as this is a particularly dynamic area at present.

Some observations about the general EA funding landscape (more details below):

1.  There is a higher number of independent grantmaking bodies
    1.  Five new independent grantmaking bodies have started up in 2023 ([Meta Charity Funders](https://www.metacharityfunders.com/), [Lightspeed Grants](https://lightspeedgrants.org/),  [Manifund Regrants,](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/RMXctNAksBgXgoszY/announcing-manifund-regrants) the [Nonlinear Network](https://nonlinearnetwork.org/), and the [Foresight AI Fund](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EcKmt8ZJ3dcQBigna/launching-foresight-institute-s-ai-grant-for-underexplored). Out of these, all but Meta Charity Funders are focused on longtermism or AI.
    2.  EA Funds and Open Philanthropy are [aiming to become more independent](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/zt6MsCCDStm74HFwo/ea-funds-organisational-update-open-philanthropy-matching) of each other.
    3.  Charity Entrepreneurship has set up a [foundation program](https://www.charityentrepreneurship.com/foundation-program), with a sub-goal of setting up cause-specific funding circles.
2.  There is a lot of activity in the effective giving ecosystem
    1.  More than [50 effective giving initiatives](https://givingwhatwecan.notion.site/fb3752a779ac4e779015db6a8a2e0cc4?v%3Dd93c0365c3e14753877ff0da08a11a69), e.g., local fundraising websites, are active, with several launched in recent years
    2.  GWWC is [providing more coordination](https://givingwhatwecan.notion.site/Effective-Giving-Global-Coordination

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