Mats Research

What Mats Research does

MATS Research is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2021 that operates an AI safety research fellowship headquartered in Berkeley, California, with a second office in London and a regional research management hub in Washington DC. The program runs a 10-12 week intensive fellowship that pairs competitively selected researchers (4-7% acceptance rate) with mentors from leading AI safety organizations including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Redwood Research, and ARC. Fellows receive stipends of $1,250/week, compute resources of $2,000/week, housing, meals, and travel support, and can apply for a 6-12 month funded extension based in London.

The organization's core product is the fellowship program itself, structured around research streams in mechanistic interpretability, AI control, scalable oversight, evaluations, red-teaming, AI governance, biosecurity, and systems security. MATS has trained 527+ researchers since late 2021, producing 200+ publications with 12,000+ collective citations and an organizational h-index of 50. Three primary "customers" exist: prospective fellows (who receive training rather than pay), research mentors (who participate largely pro bono from frontier labs), and charitable funders (Coefficient Giving, Good Ventures, BERI, Survival and Flourishing Fund). The program generates no commercial revenue and is funded entirely through philanthropic donations and donated compute credits from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

MATS has built a strong field-building flywheel where 80% of alumni remain in AI alignment, transparency, and security roles and 10% have co-founded new organizations such as Apollo Research and Timaeus. Notable alumni placements include research roles at Anthropic, the UK AI Security Institute, and METR, indicating that MATS functions as a primary talent pipeline for the technical AI safety ecosystem. The company is governed by a board including representatives from Future of Life Foundation, Golden Gate Institute for AI, and Longview Philanthropy, and is led by co-founders Ryan Kidd (CEO) and Christian Smith (CFRO).

Name

Mats Research

Legal name

MATS Research Inc.

Website

https://www.matsprogram.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MATS Research is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating an AI safety research fellowship in Berkeley and London. It trains competitively selected researchers under mentorship from frontier AI labs, producing 200+ publications and feeding talent into organizations like Anthropic, UK AISI, and Apollo Research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Safety Research Fellowship

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Computer Training (611420)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

AI & Machine Learning (Foundations & Applied) (EDAMACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Safety, Alignment & Content Moderation (Guardrails, Red Teaming) (HDAAACAI), Responsible AI, AI Governance & Compliance Services (BPAEAHAJ)

Keywords

• AI safety fellowship
• Research mentorship program
• Alignment research training
• Nonprofit research fellowship
• AI policy education

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Grants: MATS Research is a 501(c)(3) public charity that operates entirely on donations from foundations and individuals. The organization does not generate commercial revenue. Major funding comes from Coefficient Giving, Good Ventures Foundation, Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative (BERI), Survival and Flourishing Fund, Cooperative AI Foundation, Founders Pledge, Foresight Institute, Manifund, and individual donors. Compute credits are also donated by AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
2. General Applications: Open application process for prospective Research Managers and other staff positions

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MATS Research runs a 10-12 week in-person research fellowship in AI alignment, transparency, and security, hosted at offices in Berkeley, CA and London, UK, with an optional 6-12 month funded Extension Program. Fellows are matched with mentors from leading AI labs and research organizations, receive a weekly stipend (approximately $1,250/week), dedicated compute budget (approximately $2,000/week), travel, housing, and meals, and produce original AI safety research as the core output of the program.

Product overview

MATS Research operates as a fellowship program, not a traditional software product company. Its primary offering is the MATS Program, a 10-week intensive research fellowship in AI alignment, transparency, and security, paired with an optional 6-12 month Extension Program for continued research. Fellows receive mentorship from researchers at leading AI organizations (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Redwood Research, ARC), financial support (stipend and compute budget), workspace, housing, and meals. The program connects emerging talent with the AI safety research ecosystem to produce impactful research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MATS Program (Main Fellowship) A 10-12 week intensive in-person research fellowship that connects selected researchers with world-class mentors in AI alignment, transparency, and security. Located at MATS offices in Berkeley, CA and London, UK, fellows receive a weekly stipend (~$1,250/week), a compute budget (~$2,000/week), travel, housing, and meals while conducting original AI safety research.
• MATS Extension Program A 6-12 month funded research extension for select MATS fellows, providing continued mentorship, monthly stipend, housing stipend, and compute budget. Approximately 80% of eligible fellows are admitted to the extension phase.

Quantifiable outcome

• 527+ researchers trained since late 2021
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• London Initiative for Safe AI (LISA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-founded by MATS CEO Ryan Kidd and CFO Christian Smith. LISA is a UK-based initiative for safe AI research that collaborates with MATS on extending AI safety research capacity and field-building efforts.
• BlueDot ImpactsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024Educational organization running the Technical AI Safety Course and other programs. Cross-promotes with MATS and is a recommended pathway for prospective MATS applicants.
• ARENAsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024Technical bootcamp for AI safety that is recommended for prospective MATS applicants to develop technical ML and software engineering skills.
• ML4GoodsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024AI safety educational program recommended for applicants to build skills before applying to MATS.
• Alignment Research Center (ARC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021ARC is a key mentor organization hosting MATS fellows in Berkeley offices. MATS scholars work with ARC on mechanistic explanations of neural network behavior under the Theory track.
• Redwood ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partner organization providing mentorship and research projects for MATS fellows. Alumni including Cody Rushing continue research with Redwood on AI Control.
• SPARsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2021AI safety research program that serves as a feeder pathway for MATS. Alumni have conducted research under SPAR mentorship before joining MATS.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BlueDot Impact: Runs the Technical AI Safety Course and other AI safety educational programs that serve as recommended feeders for MATS applicants. Directly comparable mission of training early-career AI safety talent and overlapping applicant pools.
• ARENA (Alignment Research Engineer Accelerator): Technical AI safety bootcamp recommended as a pre-MATS pathway. Operates a similar selective, intensive training model for aspiring AI safety researchers with comparable curriculum focus.
• AI Safety Camp: Runs team-based AI safety research programs with mentorship from field practitioners. Directly comparable fellowship-style training model targeting the same early-career AI safety researcher segment.
• SPAR: Supervised Program for Alignment Research serving as a feeder pathway to MATS. Operates supervised AI safety research projects for aspiring researchers with comparable mentorship-driven structure.
• ML4Good: AI safety educational program recommended for prospective MATS applicants. Comparable mission of building pre-fellowship technical ML and AI safety skills in early-career researchers.
• Redwood Research: AI control research organization that hosts MATS fellows and provides mentorship. Directly comparable technical AI alignment research focus and overlapping research talent pool.
• Alignment Research Center (ARC): Core mentor organization hosting MATS fellows in Berkeley on mechanistic interpretability. Directly comparable AI alignment research mission with deep operational integration with MATS.

Emerging players

• Apollo Research: London-based technical alignment organization founded by MATS alumnus Marius Hobbhahn. Compares as an alumni spin-out conducting frontier AI safety evaluation research with overlapping mission.

Broad incumbents

• FAR AI: AI safety research organization conducting alignment, evaluation, and robustness research. Comparable AI safety research focus with overlapping mentor and alumni relationships (FAR AI board member Josh Jacobson also serves on MATS's board).
• Anthropic: Frontier AI lab providing mentors to MATS and hiring significant numbers of MATS alumni. Indirect comparable as the primary destination employer for MATS graduates and a key compute partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MATSprogram

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Mats Research