Foresight Institute

Name

Foresight Institute

Legal name

Foresight Institute

Website

https://foresight.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Foresight Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1986 that funds, convenes, and supports early-career scientists and innovators advancing secure AI, nanotechnology, neurotechnology, longevity biotechnology, and space through grants, prizes, fellowships, conferences, and the new AI Nodes research hubs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Research Organization

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAI

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYBPAGAKAK

Education Grantmaking Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

Keywords

• Frontier technology research
• Science philanthropy
• AI safety grants
• Nanotechnology research
• Research fellowship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Foresight Institute relies primarily on donations from individuals and organizations to fund its grant programs, events, and operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Foresight Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization that supports pioneering scientists and innovators advancing frontier technologies through grants (up to $3 million annually via the AI for Science & Safety Nodes program, with individual grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000), annual prizes (Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology and usable security), one-year fellowships, flagship Vision Weekend conferences, technical workshops, AI Nodes research hubs in San Francisco and Berlin, and 40+ online seminar groups per year.

Product overview

Foresight Institute is a research organization founded in 1986 that operates a portfolio of programs supporting frontier science and technology advancement. The organization offers a comprehensive ecosystem including Vision Weekend flagship conferences, technical workshops, AI Nodes (physical research hubs in San Francisco and Berlin), grants (AI for Science & Safety program offering up to $3M annually), prizes (Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology), a one-year fellowship program, seminar groups with 40+ online seminars annually, recordings of expert presentations, the Existential Hope podcast, and publications including the book Gaming the Future. These offerings support pioneering scientists and innovators across focus areas including secure AI, neurotechnology, longevity biotechnology, nanotechnology, space, and existential hope.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Vision Weekend Conferences Flagship events gathering leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore the frontiers of science and technology and plan for flourishing futures.
• Technical Workshops Technical workshops throughout the year bringing together top talent to solve bottlenecks holding back progress at the frontiers of science and technology.
• AI Nodes Research Hubs Physical research hubs in San Francisco and Berlin offering project funding, office and community spaces, and local compute for ambitious researchers and builders using AI to advance science and safety.
• Grants Program Grants supporting projects that use AI to advance science and safety across security, privacy, decentralized cooperation, epistemics, neurotechnology, longevity biotechnology, and molecular nanotechnology, with individual grants typically ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.
• Feynman Prizes Annual prizes honoring Richard Feynman and Norm Hardy for exceptional contributions to nanotechnology and usable security, including the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology; past recipients include David Baker (2004, 2024 Nobel in Chemistry) and Sir J. Fraser Stoddart (2007, 2016 Nobel in Chemistry).
• Fellowship Program One-year program supporting early-career scientists, engineers, and innovators to supercharge their ability to advance technological progress.
• Seminar Groups Online seminars featuring experts presenting cutting-edge research and practical applications, with 40+ seminars per year in a small, focused setting, including speakers such as George Church, Michael Levin, David Deutsch, Mary Lou Jepsen, and Steven Pinker.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supported Nobel Laureates David Baker (2024 Chemistry) and J. Fraser Stoddart (2016 Chemistry) before their awards

Segments2 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

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Global Business NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the First Foresight Conference on Nanotechnology in 1989. Provided informal reception sponsorship and was a long-term organizational partner in convening interdisciplinary gatherings on emerging technologies.
• Stanford University Department of Computer SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted the First Foresight Conference on Nanotechnology. The conference was originally planned to be held at Stanford before being relocated due to the Loma Prieta earthquake.
• Global Business NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting sponsor of the 2005 Foresight Conference.
• Niehaus Ryan Haller Public RelationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting sponsor of the 2005 Foresight Conference.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Future of Life Institute: FLI is a nonprofit focused on reducing extreme risks from transformative technologies, especially AI, and runs grant programs and convenings similar to Foresight's AI Nodes and Vision Weekend. It directly competes for AI safety donor mindshare and frontier-tech convening leadership.
• Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI): MIRI is a research nonprofit focused on AI alignment and safety, overlapping with Foresight's Secure AI focus area. Both are donation-funded, fund external researchers, and target the same AI safety donor ecosystem.
• Long Now Foundation: Long Now is a nonprofit that fosters long-term thinking through projects like the 10,000-year clock and Seminars About Long-term Thinking — closely comparable to Foresight's seminars, conferences, and long-horizon technology advocacy.
• Singularity University: Singularity University runs executive education and summits focused on exponential technologies (AI, biotech, nanotech), paralleling Foresight's interdisciplinary frontier-tech focus and Vision Weekend conference model.
• Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET): IEET is a nonprofit think tank addressing the ethical implications of emerging technologies, including AI, biotech, and nanotechnology — sharing Foresight's interdisciplinary futurist orientation and convening role.

Broad incumbents

• Open Philanthropy: Open Philanthropy is a large-scale grantmaking foundation funding AI safety, biosecurity, and other long-termist causes — overlapping significantly with Foresight's mission but operating at vastly greater scale.
• XPRIZE Foundation: XPRIZE uses large incentive prizes to drive breakthroughs in frontier domains, directly comparable to Foresight's Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology but at a much larger scale and broader scope.
• Schmidt Futures: Schmidt Futures funds talented individuals and frontier research in science and technology — overlapping with Foresight's fellowship program and frontier-tech grantmaking.
• Future of Humanity Institute (University of Oxford): FHI was an Oxford multidisciplinary research center studying big-picture questions about humanity's future and existential risk — comparable in mission to Foresight's existential hope framing, though university-anchored rather than independent.

Emerging players

• Center for Humane Technology: CHT is a nonprofit focused on aligning technology with human well-being, particularly in AI — overlapping with Foresight's Secure AI focus but with stronger emphasis on product/platform-level interventions rather than frontier research funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/foresightinst
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/ForesightInstitute
• Facebookfacebook.com/foresightinst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foresight-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Foresight Institute