Sentience Institute

What Sentience Institute does

Sentience Institute is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary think tank founded in 2017 and headquartered at 165 Broadway, New York. The organization conducts empirical and conceptual research on moral circle expansion, farmed animal welfare, and the sentience of digital minds, drawing on economics, history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. It is a 501(c)(3) public charity governed by New York law, operating with a staff of 1–10 people and led by co-founder Jacy Reese Anthis alongside researchers with credentials from UCSB, Princeton, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Max Planck Institute.

The institute's core outputs are longitudinal public-attitude surveys and academic publications rather than commercial products. Its signature AFT Survey (Animals, Food, and Technology) has run six waves between 2017 and 2025, each with 1,000+ census-balanced US adult respondents; the AIMS Survey (Artificial Intelligence, Morality, and Sentience) extends the same methodology to AI ethics. Research is disseminated through peer-reviewed journals (Futures, Science and Engineering Ethics), a podcast, blog, newsletter (averaging one to two emails per year), social media, and open-data repositories such as Mendeley Data and the Open Science Framework. The organization participates in the Center for Open Science's Open Data Badge program, distinguishing it methodologically from advocacy-only nonprofits.

The business model is donation-funded and non-commercial. Sentience Institute accepts tax-deductible contributions via credit/debit card, bank transfer, PayPal, stock transfer, and cryptocurrency through Every.org, and all research is made publicly available at no cost. Stakeholders include the effective altruism community, academic researchers, policymakers, and animal advocacy organizations, who use the work to inform cause prioritization and movement strategy. There is no pricing model, no SaaS offering, no API, and no disclosed revenue or headcount growth data; the organization files Form 990 with the New York Attorney General's Charities Bureau but does not publish financials.

Name

Sentience Institute

Legal name

Sentience Institute

Website

https://sentienceinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sentience Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank founded in 2017 in New York that conducts interdisciplinary research on moral circle expansion, farmed animal welfare, and digital minds, distributing its longitudinal surveys, peer-reviewed papers, and podcast free to the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Social Science Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Nonprofit think tank
• Animal welfare research
• Longitudinal survey research
• Effective altruism research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) public charity, Sentience Institute is funded primarily through donations from individuals. They accept donations via debit/credit card, bank transfer, PayPal, stock transfer, and cryptocurrency through Every.org.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sentience Institute conducts and publishes interdisciplinary research on moral circle expansion and digital minds, making all findings publicly and freely available. Its core outputs include the longitudinal Animals, Food, and Technology (AFT) Survey and the Artificial Intelligence, Morality, and Sentience (AIMS) Survey, alongside academic papers, randomized controlled trial studies, and a podcast. The institute is funded entirely through charitable donations as a 501(c)(3) public charity and does not sell products or services.

Product overview

Sentience Institute is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary think tank that does not offer a commercial product in the traditional sense. Its core offerings consist of research surveys (AFT Survey and AIMS Survey), academic publications, a podcast series, and experimental studies. The AFT Survey tracks US attitudes toward animal farming and animal-free food across multiple waves (2017-2025), while research reports cover topics including moral circle expansion, artificial sentience, and effective altruism. All outputs are publicly available and free.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Animals, Food, and Technology (AFT) Survey Longitudinal survey tracking US adult attitudes toward animal farming and animal-free food alternatives, conducted across six waves from 2017 to 2025 with samples of 1,000+ US adults per wave, made publicly available for academic and policy use.
• AIMS Survey (Artificial Intelligence, Morality, and Sentience) Survey research on public attitudes toward artificial intelligence, morality, and sentience, examining how society views digital minds and artificial entities.
• Research Reports and Publications Academic papers and reports published in peer-reviewed journals such as Futures and Science and Engineering Ethics, covering moral circle expansion, artificial sentience, and effective altruism.
• Sentience Institute Podcast Podcast series discussing moral circle expansion, animal advocacy, and digital minds, distributed publicly via the Sentience Institute website.
• Animal-Free Food Technology Awareness Experiment Randomized controlled trial examining the effects of animal-free food technology awareness on opposition to animal farming, with preregistered hypotheses and pre-registered analysis plans.
• AFT Survey 2021 Report Analysis of the fourth wave of the AFT Survey, conducted in October 2021 with 1,532 US adults, examining attitudes toward animal farming and animal-free food.

Quantifiable outcome

• 74.6% of US adults reported feeling discomfort with the animal farming industry (2021)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• University of St AndrewsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with researchers at University of St Andrews on moral values in social movements, contributing to interdisciplinary research on moral circle expansion.
• National University of SingaporeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with researchers on values affecting immigration attitudes, supporting cross-cultural research on moral circle expansion.
• Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKaterina Manoli, a researcher, is a PhD student at this institute, representing an academic partnership for interdisciplinary research.
• Princeton UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJanet Pauketat conducted postdoctoral research at Princeton University studying collective emotions in social movements.
• Charity EntrepreneurshipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAli Ladak previously worked at Charity Entrepreneurship carrying out research to prioritize global health and development policy interventions.
• FaunalyticsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAli Ladak has worked on research projects with Faunalytics to support the animal advocacy movement.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Future of Life Institute: Nonprofit working on existential risks and AI safety, sometimes funding survey research on AI attitudes. Compares through work on AI ethics, long-termist concerns, and policy advocacy.
• GiveWell: Largest EA-aligned charity evaluator focused on global health and development. Comparable as a research-driven nonprofit informing donor decisions, though operating at much larger scale and on different cause areas.

Direct peers

• Sentience Politics: Swiss-based nonprofit focused on animal welfare policy and corporate campaigns. Directly comparable in mission focus on sentience and animal advocacy, with formal personnel overlap (Jacy Anthis was a Senior Fellow).
• Rethink Charity: EA-aligned nonprofit supporting community-building and research within effective altruism. Closely matched in mission, donor base, and research orientation.
• Faunalytics: Nonprofit research organization providing data and analysis to the animal protection movement. Directly comparable through empirical research on attitudes, advocacy effectiveness, and animal welfare policy.
• Rethink Priorities: EA-aligned research organization producing in-depth analyses on global priority issues including animal welfare and AI. Directly comparable as a think tank doing interdisciplinary research with effective altruism funding.
• Animal Charity Evaluators: Nonprofit dedicated to identifying effective animal advocacy organizations through research and analysis. Directly comparable as a research-driven EA-aligned nonprofit focused on animal welfare and intervention effectiveness.
• Wild Animal Initiative: Nonprofit research organization focused on wild animal welfare. Directly comparable as a research-driven nonprofit in the broader animal sentience and welfare space.

Emerging players

• Foundational Research Institute: Research organization focused on reducing suffering, particularly in the future. Compares through philosophical and cause-prioritization research for EA audiences.

Regional players

• Center for AI Safety: Research organization focused on AI existential risk. Comparable through research on AI ethics and emerging digital minds, though focused on catastrophic risk rather than sentience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SentienceInst
• Facebookfacebook.com/sentienceinstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sentienceinstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Sentience Institute