Global Priorities Institute

What Global Priorities Institute does

The Global Priorities Institute (GPI) was an interdisciplinary research institute embedded in the University of Oxford, founded in 2018 and closed at the end of July 2025 after seven years of operation. Its mission was to address deeply unresolved questions about how to do the most good in impartial terms, spanning the ethics of the long-term future, existential risk, the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence, animal welfare, philanthropic decision-making, and effective giving. GPI's research bridged philosophy, economics, and psychology, and the institute explicitly aimed to promote the broader uptake of these questions within academia, where they were relatively neglected at the time of founding.

GPI's core outputs were academic publications, including peer-reviewed papers, a working paper series drawing in external scholars, and five books published through Oxford University Press and Basic Books between 2019 and 2025. It also published comprehensive research agendas in philosophy, economics, and psychology in November 2024 to map open questions for the field. Community-building products included twenty academic workshops, the Derek Parfit Memorial Lectures in philosophy, the Tony Atkinson Memorial Lectures in economics, a summer fellowship program for early-career researchers, and a predoctoral program in economics whose alumni placed at Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, Chicago, Georgetown, Columbia, MIT, MIT Sloan, Oxford, LSE, TSE, and Zurich. Distribution channels were academic: peer-reviewed journals, working papers hosted on the GPI website, public lecture videos on YouTube, and a newsletter.

As a non-commercial unit of the University of Oxford, GPI had no paying customers or product pricing; its operating model relied on university support, grants, and donations, likely including contributions from effective altruism-aligned philanthropists. Its primary users were academic researchers, with secondary engagement from policymakers and think tanks working on existential risk and AI governance. The institute's closure in July 2025 ended its formal institutional existence, though publications, research agendas, and a successor newsletter remain accessible to support continued research in the field.

Name

Global Priorities Institute

Legal name

Global Priorities Institute

Website

https://globalprioritiesinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Global Priorities Institute was an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Oxford (2018–2025) conducting academic research on global priorities across philosophy, economics, and psychology, serving early-career scholars and policymakers studying longtermism, existential risk, and AI governance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Sciences & Public Policy Research Universities (EDAHABAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

International & Comparative Education Policy Organizations (EDADADAL)

Keywords

• Academic research institute
• Global priorities research
• Interdisciplinary philosophy research
• Longtermism and existential risk
• Effective altruism research

Headquarters

HQ city

Oxford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Institution Funding: As an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Oxford, GPI operated as an academic research institution funded through grants, donations, and institutional support rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Global Priorities Institute was an interdisciplinary academic research institute at the University of Oxford that produced peer-reviewed publications, working papers, and research agendas on global priorities at the intersection of philosophy, economics, and psychology. It also ran fellowship and predoctoral training programs and hosted academic workshops and memorial lecture series. The institute closed at the end of July 2025.

Product overview

Global Priorities Institute (GPI) was an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Oxford focused on advancing global priorities research across philosophy, economics, and psychology. Its core offerings consisted of academic research publications, a working paper series, and published research agendas. The institute also hosted educational programs including a summer fellowship for early-career researchers and a predoctoral program in economics. GPI organized community-building events including twenty academic workshops and two memorial lecture series: the Derek Parfit Memorial Lectures in philosophy and the Tony Atkinson Memorial Lectures in economics. The institute closed at the end of July 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Publications
• Working Paper Series
• Research Agendas
• Summer Fellowship Program
• Predoctoral Program in Economics
• Derek Parfit Memorial Lectures
• Tony Atkinson Memorial Lectures
• Academic Workshops

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• AI Governance Initiative (University of Oxford)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated organization at the University of Oxford focused on AI governance research, sharing academic collaboration with GPI.
• Centre for the Governance of AIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization focused on AI governance, related to GPI's research on AI risks and opportunities.
• Institute for Futures StudiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish research institute for futures studies, aligned with GPI's longtermism research agenda.
• Mimir Center for Long-Term Futures ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCenter focused on long-term futures research, complementary to GPI's mission.
• Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanford University's institute focused on human-centered AI research, related to GPI's AI governance work.
• Animal Welfare Economics Working GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking group on animal welfare economics, aligned with GPI's animal welfare research.
• Eleos AI ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAI research organization, related to GPI's research on AI risks and opportunities.
• Forethought Centre for AI StrategyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentre focused on AI strategy, related to GPI's work on AI governance and risks.
• Institute for Law and AIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitute focused on law and AI intersection, aligned with GPI's research on AI governance.
• London AI and Humanity Project (University of London)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject at University of London focused on AI and humanity, related to GPI's digital minds research.
• Center for Mind Ethics and Policy (NYU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYU center focused on mind ethics and policy, aligned with GPI's research on consciousness and value.
• Population Wellbeing Initiative (UT Austin)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUT Austin initiative on population wellbeing, related to GPI's population ethics research.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Others

• 80,000 Hours: EA-aligned organization providing career guidance for high-impact work. Operates adjacent to GPI's audience of early-career global-priorities researchers and shares the longtermism framing, but functions as a career advisory service rather than an academic research institute.
• Open Philanthropy: Major EA-aligned foundation that funds many of the same research areas GPI pursued (existential risk, AI governance, animal welfare, global health). Acts as a funder and convener rather than a research producer, but shapes the same intellectual ecosystem.
• Centre for Effective Altruism: Community-building organization supporting the effective altruism movement globally. Operates adjacent to GPI's audience and research themes but functions more as a community infrastructure provider than an academic research producer.

Direct peers

• Future of Humanity Institute: Sister interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Oxford focused on existential risk, AI, and long-term futures. The most directly comparable entity to GPI in terms of institutional setting, research themes, and academic positioning.
• Centre for the Governance of AI: AI governance research organization that originated from FHI and shares academic collaboration with GPI. Listed in GPI's data as a partner and addresses overlapping research themes in AI policy, transformative AI, and existential risk.
• Institute for Futures Studies: Swedish interdisciplinary research institute conducting research on long-term societal trends and futures studies. Already listed as a GPI partner; comparable in academic research mission and futures-oriented scope.
• Rethink Priorities: Effective-altruism-aligned research organization producing rigorous analyses on global priorities, animal welfare, and existential risk. Closely matches GPI in research methodology, audience, and topic breadth.
• Foundational Research Institute: Research organization focused on longtermism, existential risk reduction, and foundational questions about how to improve the long-term future. Highly comparable in mission and outputs to GPI's research on longtermism and effective altruism.
• Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence: Interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Cambridge exploring the future implications of AI. Comparable to GPI in combining philosophy, ethics, and policy research on transformative AI and long-term outcomes.

Emerging players

• Sentience Institute: Effective-altruism research organization focused on moral circle expansion, animal welfare, and the long-term implications of sentience. Overlaps with GPI's animal welfare and mind/value research agendas but operates as a smaller, advocacy-oriented nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@globalprioritiesinstitute/featured

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Global Priorities Institute