Machine Intelligence Research Institute

What Machine Intelligence Research Institute does

MIRI (Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization founded in 2000 and headquartered in Berkeley, California. Its stated mission is to ensure that smarter-than-human artificial intelligence has a positive impact on humanity. MIRI's work focuses on three pillars: technical and policy research on AI alignment, communications aimed at policymakers and the general public, and advocacy for internationally coordinated action to delay or halt the development of artificial superintelligence (ASI). The organization argues that ASI built with current methods would very likely pursue unintended goals, producing catastrophic outcomes, and that a globally enforced moratorium is the primary viable mitigation.

MIRI does not sell products or services. Its core outputs are research publications, briefing documents (such as 'The Problem' and 'The Briefing'), policy frameworks, the 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies' book co-authored by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, and the 'The AI Doc' documentary. Technical work includes foundational AI alignment research on corrigibility, logical induction, and technical governance. Revenue comes entirely from charitable donations, including individual giving (one-time, recurring, cryptocurrency, stock, and donor-advised funds) and grants from major donors such as Open Philanthropy, Vitalik Buterin, Jaan Tallinn, the Thiel Foundation, the Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative, and the Survival and Flourishing Fund. MIRI employs roughly 30+ staff under CEO Malo Bourgon and President Nate Soares, with co-founder Eliezer Yudkowsky remaining in an advisory/public-facing capacity.

The organization's go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: it engages policymakers through testimony and briefings (including the U.S. Senate AI Insight Forum in December 2023), publishes research papers and commentary for the AI safety community, and uses mainstream media and documentary distribution to reach general audiences. Since 2024, MIRI has explicitly de-emphasized in-house alignment research in favor of policy influence and communications, reflecting leadership's assessment that alignment solutions are unlikely to arrive before ASI.

Name

Machine Intelligence Research Institute

Legal name

Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Inc.

Website

https://intelligence.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MIRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization founded in 2000 that conducts AI alignment research and advocates for globally coordinated policy to prevent catastrophic outcomes from artificial superintelligence, funded entirely by charitable donations and targeting policymakers, researchers, and the general public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Safety Research and Policy

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Safety & Alignment Evaluation (red-teaming, harmful capability testing) (HDAAAMAL), Responsible AI, AI Governance & Compliance Services (BPAEAHAJ), Model Risk Management & AI Governance (validation, monitoring, explainability) (FSAGAFAL)

Keywords

• AI alignment research
• AI safety governance
• Existential risk analysis
• Superintelligence policy
• Technical AI governance

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: MIRI operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and primarily receives funding through individual donations. They accept one-time and monthly donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer, and cryptocurrency. The December 2025 fundraiser raised $1.8M from small donors.
2. Major Donor Contributions: MIRI receives significant contributions from major donors including cryptocurrency investors, foundations, and tech entrepreneurs. Notable major donors: anonymous Ethereum investors (2017, 2018, 2021, 2026), Open Philanthropy, Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum co-founder), Jaan Tallinn (Skype co-founder), Peter Thiel via Thiel Foundation, Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative, Jed McCaleb (Ripple/Stellar), and others who have contributed $500,000+ each.
3. Cryptocurrency Donations: MIRI accepts cryptocurrency donations including BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC and more through Coinbase commerce. Major cryptocurrency investors have contributed significant amounts.
4. Stock and DAF Donations: MIRI accepts donations in the form of stocks through their Schwab brokerage account and through Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) from institutions like Fidelity Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, and Schwab Charitable.
5. Matching Programs: The Survival and Flourishing Fund (SFF) provided $1.6M in matching funds during the December 2025 fundraiser. MIRI also participates in employer matching programs where companies match employee donations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization that conducts foundational research on AI alignment and technical AI governance to address existential risk from artificial superintelligence (ASI). MIRI produces research papers on topics such as corrigibility and logical induction, publishes policy briefings and educational documents (e.g., "The Problem," "The Briefing"), and engages in direct policy advocacy aimed at achieving a globally coordinated moratorium on ASI development.

Product overview

The Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization that does not offer a commercial product or software platform. Rather, MIRI produces research publications, educational resources, and policy analysis focused on preventing human extinction from artificial superintelligence. Its portfolio consists of in-house research papers on AI alignment and technical governance, condensed briefing documents explaining AI risks to policymakers and the public, and published works including the documentary 'The AI Doc' and the book 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies.' The organization also maintains a blog with updates on AI governance and has a Technical Governance Team that publishes research agendas and international agreement frameworks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist A documentary film exploring AI risk and the work of MIRI, now streaming on Peacock and available for rental on major platforms including Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and YouTube TV.
• The Problem A comprehensive document explaining MIRI's position on artificial superintelligence risks, including goal-oriented behavior, alignment difficulties, and policy recommendations. Designed for policymakers and informed public readers.
• Briefing on Extinction-Level AI Threats A condensed overview of MIRI's position on AI catastrophe risks, designed as a shorter introduction to the problem compared to the full Problem document.

Quantifiable outcome

• CAIS Statement on AI Risk endorsed by leading AI researchers including Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Ilya Sutskever, stating that mitigating AI extinction risk should be a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war.
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Future of Life Institute: 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on existential risk reduction from transformative technologies, especially AI. Directly comparable to MIRI as a peer in the AI safety nonprofit ecosystem with overlapping donor base and policy engagement.
• Center for AI Safety: AI safety research and advocacy organization that organized the CAIS Statement on AI Risk endorsed by Hinton, Bengio, and Sutskever. Directly comparable to MIRI as a peer in AI existential risk advocacy and research.
• Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER): Cambridge University research center studying existential risks including AI. Directly comparable to MIRI in mission scope and academic orientation, with overlapping funders (e.g., Jaan Tallinn).
• Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative: Nonprofit supporting existential risk researchers including AI safety. Directly comparable to MIRI in mission, geography (Berkeley), and donor base — listed among MIRI's top financial contributors.

Emerging players

• Redwood Research: AI safety research nonprofit focused on alignment and interpretability. Comparable to MIRI's technical research mission but with a narrower alignment-engineering focus and younger organization.
• Apollo Research: AI safety research organization focused on evaluating dangerous capabilities and alignment evaluations. Closely comparable to MIRI's technical governance and safety evaluation focus areas.
• AI Now Institute: Policy research institute examining AI's social and governance implications. Comparable to MIRI's policy/communications work but with a more near-term, regulatory focus rather than existential-risk framing.
• Conjecture: AI safety company focused on alignment and deployment safeguards. Comparable to MIRI's technical alignment work but operating as a commercial venture with embedded AI deployment focus.

Broad incumbents

• Anthropic: Commercial AI lab built explicitly around AI safety and alignment. Overlaps with MIRI's mission but operates at vastly greater scale as a frontier model developer, serving as both collaborator and competitor for safety talent and donor attention.

Others

• 80,000 Hours: Effective altruism-aligned career guidance nonprofit covering AI safety among other priorities. Comparable in donor ecosystem and EA orientation, with overlapping key figures (e.g., board connections to Anna Salamon).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MIRIBerkeley
• Facebookfacebook.com/MachineIntelligenceResearchInstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/640083

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors

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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 Machine Intelligence Research Institute