Future of Life Institute

What Future of Life Institute does

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is an independent, apolitical nonprofit founded in 2014 to reduce extreme large-scale risks from transformative technologies, with primary focus on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and nuclear weapons. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA with offices in Campbell, CA and Brussels, Belgium, FLI operates through four program pillars: policy and research, futures scenario planning, communications and outreach, and grantmaking. Its core outputs include the AI Safety Index (Winter 2025 edition evaluates eight leading AI companies across 35 safety indicators in six domains), the Pro-Human AI Declaration, the Statement on Superintelligence (signed by 800+ figures including Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Prince Harry), and a $25 million grants program supporting AI existential safety fellowships, biosecurity, and nuclear risk research. The organization also coordinates the Future of Life Award ($50,000 prize) and has facilitated landmark outputs including the 2017 Asilomar AI Principles.

FLI's business model is philanthropic rather than commercial: it is funded by donations from individuals and organizations aligned with its mission, including Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn (who funds the Future of Life Award), Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (who funds the AI Existential Safety fellowships), and other undisclosed philanthropists. The organization distributes capital outward through grants to aligned researchers, advocacy organizations, and civil society coalitions (over $7 million in grants identified across 2024 partners alone), and distributes influence inward through policy advocacy, open letters, and earned media. Its reach includes a 70,000+ subscriber newsletter, a podcast on major streaming platforms, and consistent coverage in outlets such as The Hill, NBC News, LA Times, Forbes, Washington Post, The Guardian, and Nature. FLI has been formally engaged by the UN Secretary General as a civil society co-champion for AI recommendations and entered a state-level partnership with Florida agencies in 2026 to develop AI crisis counselor training and a statewide AI harms reporting form.

Name

Future of Life Institute

Legal name

Future of Life Institute

Website

https://futureoflife.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Future of Life Institute is an independent nonprofit founded in 2014 that conducts policy advocacy, research, grantmaking, and public outreach to reduce extreme risks from AI, biotechnology, and nuclear technologies, serving policymakers, researchers, and civil society across the US, EU, and UN.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Safety Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Public Relations Agencies (541820)

akta.pro primary industry

Responsible AI Policy, Controls & Workflow Management (HDAAAMAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Responsible AI, AI Governance & Compliance Services (BPAEAHAJ), Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE), Safety & Alignment Evaluation (red-teaming, harmful capability testing) (HDAAAMAL)

Keywords

• AI safety advocacy
• Existential risk research
• Technology governance
• AI policy research
• Grantmaking nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations: FLI is an apolitical nonprofit funded by a range of individuals and organizations who share the goal to reduce extreme large-scale risks from transformative technologies. Funding comes from donors including Jaan Tallinn (Skype cofounder), Vitalik Buterin, and other philanthropists.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

FLI is an independent nonprofit that conducts policy advocacy and research, public outreach and education, and grantmaking to reduce extreme large-scale risks from transformative technologies, with a primary focus on AI safety. It produces independent research outputs such as the AI Safety Index (evaluating eight leading AI companies across 35 safety indicators), develops policy frameworks (e.g., A Better Path for AI), funds fellowships and grants for AI existential safety research, and organizes high-profile open letters and coalitions to influence AI governance in the US, EU, and UN.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI Safety Index Winter 2025 Independent comparative assessment of leading AI companies on safety and security practices across six domains and 35 safety indicators. For policymakers, researchers, media, and the general public.
• A Better Path for AI Comprehensive policy roadmap providing recommendations and a framework for AI development that benefits humanity. For policymakers, governments, and civil society.
• PhD and Post-doctoral Fellowships in AI Existential Safety Fellowship program providing stipend-funded research positions for PhD and postdoctoral researchers working on AI existential safety. For academic researchers and students.
• Future of Life Award $50,000 prize awarded to individuals who have helped reduce existential risks and made the world safer. Funded by Jaan Tallinn (Skype co-founder). For individuals contributing to reducing extreme risks.
• Existential Risk Reduction Grants Program $25 million grants program funding individuals and organizations working on existential risk reduction, including AI safety, nuclear risk, and biotechnology. For researchers, civil society organizations, and nonprofits.
• Policy Advocacy and Research Ongoing policy research and advocacy on AI safety, biotechnology, and nuclear weapons, including facilitation of open letters, declarations, and direct engagement with policymakers. For governments, policymakers, and civil society.

Quantifiable outcome

• AI Safety Index Winter 2025: Evaluated 8 leading AI companies across 35 safety indicators in 6 domains
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Florida State AgenciesmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2026Governor DeSantis directed Florida state agencies to partner with FLI to shield families from AI harm, producing a Crisis Counselor Training Curriculum and statewide AI Harms Reporting Form.
• Superintelligence Statement SignatoriescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2025Coalition including Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, Steve Wozniak, Richard Branson, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Joseph Gordon-Levitt signed statement organized by FLI calling for global ban on superintelligence development.
• Seismic FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2025FLI referenced Seismic Foundation's research report 'On the Razor's Edge: AI vs Everything We Care About' showing 10,000+ respondents in US, UK, France, Germany, Poland on AI attitudes.
• Federation of American Scientists (FAS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded FAS a $1,500,000 grant to investigate implications of artificial intelligence on global risk. The 18-month project supports FAS efforts to bring together security and technology experts on AI and nuclear deterrence, bioengineering, autonomy and lethality, and cyber security.
• International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded IASEAI a $1,850,000 grant for general support. IASEAI is a nonprofit addressing AI risks and opportunities, working to ensure AI systems operate safely and ethically while shaping policy and building community.
• Encode JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded Encode Justice a $250,000 grant for general support. Encode mobilizes young people to advocate for human-centered AI policy with policymakers and public.
• The EldersmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded The Elders (founded by Nelson Mandela) a $294,160 grant for the Long-View Leadership project, supporting independent global leaders working for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet.
• TarbellminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded Tarbell a $150,000 grant to fund established journalists pursuing original reporting on AI harms, frontier models, company inner workings, and policy lobbying.
• University of VirginiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $109,564 to support Professor Anton Korinek's research on economics of transformative AI.
• Common Sense MediacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $500,000 grant for 'Building Parent Power for AI Safety' project investigating children's AI usage concerns and driving legislative action.
• Economic Security Project Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $500,000 grant to challenge Big Tech dominance and advocate for public-serving technology governance through strategic policy fights.
• EkōcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $500,000 grant for an AI Corporate Accountability Hub.
• PauseAI UScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $200,000 grant to raise public awareness and build community engagement for responsible AI development.
• Stichting PauseAIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $500,000 grant for the Catalyst Project to train university students and workers in AI-disrupted fields to build grassroots organizing networks.
• Institute for Security and Technology (IST)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $484,050 grant for collaboration between IST and AI and Faith to develop educational resources for religious communities on AI ethics.
• EvivableminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $100,000 grant for work to prevent superintelligence advancement and normalize an international AI scaling moratorium.
• Palisade ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $500,000 grant for raising awareness about potential strategic risks from superhuman AI systems.
• Young People's Alliance Education FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $498,114 grant for a bipartisan youth-led AI framework and civil society coalition building.
• AI Objectives InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $206,000 grant for work with labor unions through Talk to the City platform.
• Blueprint for Free SpeechminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $345,000 grant to mobilize trade unions in Germany and Greece to defend workers against AI misuse.
• National Association of Voice ActorsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $300,000 grant for a Global Creatives AI Summit focusing on AI impact on creative economy.
• International Nuclear Heuristics Research (INHR)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $150,000 grant for a U.S.-China-EU AI Safety Dialogue project developing military safety policy recommendations.
• Mindstream Project Ltd.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI awarded $60,000 grant for 'Engaged Buddhists for Responsible AI Initiative' to map Buddhist landscape for AI safety engagement.
• Control AIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024FLI supports Control AI, founded by Andrea Miotti, which advocates for global ban on superintelligent AI systems that could outsmart and overpower humans.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Center for AI Safety: Direct peer nonprofit focused on AI existential safety. CAIS issued the 2023 'Statement on AI Risk' signed by hundreds of AI researchers and operates closely adjacent policy and research activities to FLI.
• Partnership on AI: Multistakeholder nonprofit researching AI safety and publishing best practices. Comparable mission but with deeper industry ties (founded by tech companies), giving it a different posture than FLI's advocacy stance.
• Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI): Academic AI policy and research center producing influential AI Index reports and convening policymakers. Comparable mission with academic rather than nonprofit advocacy structure.
• Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI): One of the oldest AI alignment research organizations. MIRI focuses on technical AI alignment research while FLI is more policy/advocacy-oriented, but they share the existential-risk frame and donor ecosystem.
• AI Now Institute: AI policy research institute producing reports on AI accountability, bias, and governance. Highly comparable to FLI's policy-and-research function though with a more near-term/harms lens rather than existential risk.
• Federation of American Scientists (FAS): Science-policy nonprofit working on AI, nuclear, and biosecurity risks. FLI grantee ($1.5M) and partner; highly comparable as a science-policy nonprofit with similar mission scope.
• GovAI: Research organization focused on AI governance, producing policy recommendations and research outputs aimed at policymakers. Directly comparable to FLI in mission and target audience.
• International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI): Nonprofit addressing AI risks and opportunities; FLI grantee ($1.85M) building global community of AI safety researchers. Directly comparable mission and recent launch trajectory.

Broad incumbents

• RAND Corporation: Large policy research organization with established work on AI safety, emerging tech, and existential risk. Comparable as a research-and-policy shop but with a much broader portfolio and government contracting base.
• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Established international affairs think tank with growing AI technology and international security programs. Comparable in policy research and global convening role, but broader foreign-policy mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/flixrisk
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-rCCy3FQ-GItDimSR9lhzw
• Facebookfacebook.com/futureoflifeinstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/future-of-life-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Future of Life Institute