← Back to US Funders Directory

Future of Life Foundation

Grant Range
$15K - $1.5M
Decision Time
2mo

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: Not publicly disclosed (Foundation formed 2022)
  • Success Rate: Not applicable (invitation-only/RFP-based)
  • Decision Time: 1.5-4 months (varies by program)
  • Grant Range: $15,000 - $1,500,000
  • Geographic Focus: International

Contact Details

Future of Life Foundation

Future of Life Institute (Sister Organization)

Overview

The Future of Life Foundation was established in 2022 as a sister organization to the Future of Life Institute (FLI), both sharing the mission to steer transformative technology towards benefiting life and away from extreme large-scale risks. While the Foundation itself serves primarily as an organizational incubator, providing seed funding and operational support to launch 3-5 new organizations per year, the broader FLI ecosystem conducts extensive grantmaking activities. Founded in March 2014 by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark, UCSC physicist Anthony Aguirre, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and others, the organizations have distributed millions in grants focused on AI safety, existential risk reduction, and beneficial technology development. The initial 2015 research program started with a $10 million donation from Elon Musk, followed by a $25 million program in 2021 funded by Vitalik Buterin, and most recently received $665 million in cryptocurrency donations to expand their work.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Organizational Incubation (Future of Life Foundation)

  • Seed funding for new organizations: Amount varies
  • Operational support and leadership recruitment
  • Institutional structure design
  • Target: 3-5 new organizations per year

Research Grants (Future of Life Institute)

  • Project Grants: $100,000 - $500,000 (typically 2-3 years)
  • Center Grants: $500,000 - $1,500,000
  • Small Grants/Design Competitions: $15,000
  • Application method: RFP-based (Request for Proposals), no unsolicited applications accepted

Fellowship Programs

  • PhD Fellowships in Technical AI Existential Safety
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships (Vitalik Buterin Fellowship)
  • PhD Fellowship in US-China AI Governance

Priority Areas

AI Safety and Governance

  • Technical AI existential safety research
  • AI policy and regulation development
  • Global institutions for governing advanced AI
  • AI-driven power concentration mitigation
  • Problem-solving AI that benefits society

Existential Risk Reduction

  • Nuclear weapons risks and humanitarian impacts
  • Biotechnology risks
  • Cyber security and emerging technologies
  • Long-term future of humanity

Sustainable Development

  • AI applications for poverty reduction
  • Healthcare improvements through AI
  • Energy and climate change solutions
  • Evaluation of AI impact on UN Sustainable Development Goals

Public Awareness and Policy

  • Journalism grants (Tarbell Grants) for investigative reporting on AI
  • Educational outreach
  • Advocacy in UN, US government, and EU institutions
  • Youth mobilization for human-centered AI

What They Don't Fund

  • Research unrelated to transformative technologies or existential risks
  • Projects without clear alignment to beneficial AI and technology safety
  • Overhead costs exceeding 15% of grant amount

Governance and Leadership

Board of Directors

  • Max Tegmark - President (MIT cosmologist, co-founder)
  • Anthony Aguirre - Executive Director and Board Treasurer (UCSC Faggin Presidential Professor for Physics of Information, co-founder)
  • Meia Chita-Tegmark - Board Secretary (Tufts University, co-founder)
  • Victoria Krakovna - Board Member (DeepMind research scientist, co-founder)
  • Jaan Tallinn - Board Member (Skype co-founder, co-founder of FLI)

Key Leadership Team

  • Mark Brakel - Global Director of Policy
  • Michael Kleinman - Head of U.S. Policy
  • Risto Uuk - Head of EU Policy and Research
  • Anna Hehir - Head of Military AI Governance
  • Ben Cumming - Communications Director
  • Emilia Javorsky - Director, Futures Program
  • Ben Eisenpress - Director of Operations

Advisory Board Includes computer scientists Stuart J. Russell and Francesca Rossi, biologist George Church, cosmologist Saul Perlmutter, astrophysicist Sandra Faber, theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek, entrepreneur Elon Musk, and actors/science communicators Alan Alda and Morgan Freeman.

Quote from Anthony Aguirre: "About 10 years ago, [we] started to think about the long-term future and transformative technologies, deciding to start up a non-profit thinking about what could be done to steer them in a more favorable direction." He has also stated regarding AI safety: "At first blush when you say, 'how do I control or ensure is safe for me, a system far more intelligent than me?', the most obvious answer is 'you don't.'"

Quote from Max Tegmark: "The only way I'll trust a superintelligence to be beneficial is if I can prove it."

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. All grants are awarded through:

  1. Specific Request for Proposals (RFPs) announced periodically
  2. Invitation-only opportunities
  3. Fellowship application cycles when announced
  4. Organizational incubation (by invitation/identification)

To learn about upcoming opportunities:

Application Process (When RFPs Are Active)

Two-Stage Process:

  1. Initial Proposal Submission - Brief proposal submitted by stated deadline
  2. Full Proposal (Invite Only) - Selected applicants invited to submit detailed proposals

Review Process:

  • Screening of initial proposals by FLI staff
  • External and confidential expert peer review of full proposals
  • Expert panel evaluation and ranking according to specified criteria
  • Final funding decisions made by review panel

Proposal Requirements:

  • All proposals must be in English
  • Careful justification of proposed expenditures required
  • Evaluated on "potential impact per dollar requested"

Eligibility:

  • No strict qualification requirements for Principal Investigators
  • Lacking conventional academic credentials or publications does not disqualify applicants
  • Applications encouraged from industry and independent researchers
  • International applicants welcome from any country
  • Researchers and outreach specialists from academic/non-profit institutions eligible

Acceptable Grant Uses:

  • Researcher salaries and benefits
  • Summer salary
  • Project support during sabbaticals
  • Publication costs
  • Modest equipment and travel expenses
  • Workshop/conference development
  • Maximum overhead: 15%

Decision Timeline

Typical Timeline (Based on Historical Data):

  • RFP Release to Initial Proposal Deadline: ~6 weeks
  • Initial Proposal to Full Proposal Invitation: ~10 weeks
  • Full Proposal Deadline to Decision: ~6 weeks
  • Total Time from Initial Submission to Decision: 1.5-4 months (varies by program)
  • Grant Disbursement: Typically begins 2 months after decision

Example Timeline (2015 AI Safety Grants):

  • January 22: RFP released
  • March 1: Initial proposals due
  • May 17: Full proposals due (invite only)
  • July 1: Grant recommendations announced
  • September 1: Grants disbursed

Recent Example (2024 AI and SDGs Program):

  • April 1: Applications due
  • Mid to late May: Decisions announced
  • Timeline: ~1.5-2 months

Multi-Year Grant Management:

  • Annual review of progress for multi-year grants
  • Potential renewal, adjustment, or termination based on performance

Success Rates

Specific success rate percentages are not publicly disclosed. However:

  • Open Philanthropy noted "a much higher success rate for $250k projects than for $500k projects, and another significant increase in acceptance rate for $100k projects over $250k projects"
  • In the 2015 initial round, $7 million was awarded to 37 research projects from $10 million available
  • High competition: Open Philanthropy determined "the value of high quality project proposals submitted was greater than the available funding"

Reapplication Policy

No specific reapplication restrictions documented. Applicants are encouraged to:

  • Monitor for new RFPs that align with their work
  • Refine proposals based on feedback if provided
  • Apply to different RFPs as appropriate

Application Success Factors

Mission Alignment is Critical: FLI's grants are specifically for those who "take this fragility seriously, who wish to study the risks from ever more powerful technologies and develop strategies for reducing them." The stated goal is to "win the wisdom race: the race between the growing power of our technology and the wisdom with which we manage it."

For Fellowship Applications:

  • Research statement (up to 3 pages) must outline specific plans for AI existential safety research
  • Must include: reason for interest in AI existential safety, technical specification of proposed research, discussion of why it would reduce existential risk
  • For current graduate students: address how the fellowship enables AI existential safety research
  • Submit CV and names/emails of up to three referees

Cost-Effectiveness Emphasized: All proposals evaluated on "potential impact per dollar requested" - carefully justify all expenditures and demonstrate how funding will maximize impact on reducing existential risks.

Diversity Welcomed: "We welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds, and we particularly encourage applications from women and underrepresented minorities." Geographic diversity also valued with no limitations on applicant or host university location.

Examples of Recently Funded Projects (2024):

  • Justin Bullock, University of Washington - A global agency to manage AGI projects
  • Haydn Belfield, University of Cambridge - An International AI Agency and a "CERN for AI"
  • Patrick Owoche, Kibabii University, Kenya - AI's role in enhancing maternal healthcare
  • Reeta Sharma, Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi - AI applications in climate change mitigation
  • Tarbell Grants - Funding for established journalists pursuing original reporting on AI harms
  • FAS (Federation of American Scientists) - Project bringing together security and technology experts on AI and global issues

Independence Valued: Applications from industry researchers and independent scholars explicitly encouraged. Conventional academic credentials not required.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • No unsolicited applications accepted - Must wait for specific RFPs to be announced; subscribe to newsletter and follow social media to stay informed
  • Mission alignment is non-negotiable - Projects must directly address existential risks from transformative technologies, particularly AI
  • Cost-effectiveness matters - Justify every dollar and demonstrate maximum impact per dollar requested; overhead capped at 15%
  • Two-stage process requires patience - Initial proposal screening before full proposal invitation; total timeline 1.5-4 months
  • International and non-traditional applicants encouraged - No geographic restrictions; industry and independent researchers explicitly welcomed
  • Think long-term impact - FLI seeks projects that contribute to "winning the wisdom race" between technological power and our ability to manage it safely
  • Consider the full ecosystem - While the Foundation focuses on organizational incubation, the Institute offers research grants and fellowships; determine which opportunity best fits your work

References

← Back to US Funders Directory