BALSA Research: Mission and Funding

Podcast episode for The Big Nonprofits Post 2025.

* 00:00:00 - Introduction

* 00:01:46 - Table of Contents

* 00:08:23 - A Word of Warning

* 00:09:40 - A Note To Charities

* 00:10:44 - Use Your Personal Theory of Impact

* 00:12:34 - Use Your Local Knowledge

* 00:13:39 - Unconditional Grants to Worthy Individuals Are Great

* 00:16:11 - Do Not Think Only On the Margin, and Also Use Decision Theory

* 00:17:15 - Compare Notes With Those Individuals You Trust

* 00:17:47 - Beware Becoming a Fundraising Target

* 00:18:13 - And the Nominees Are

* 00:22:03 - Organizations that Are Literally Me

* 00:22:15 - Balsa Research

* 00:25:08 - Don’t Worry About the Vase

* 00:26:41 - Organizations Focusing On AI Non-Technical Research and Education

* 00:27:13 - Lightcone Infrastructure

* 00:29:49 - The AI Futures Project

* 00:31:31 - Effective Institutions Project (EIP) (For Their Flagship Initiatives)

* 00:33:13 - Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI)

* 00:34:50 - AI Lab Watch

* 00:35:55 - Palisade Research

* 00:37:02 - CivAI

* 00:37:50 - AI Safety Info (Robert Miles)

* 00:38:31 - Intelligence Rising

* 00:39:18 - Convergence Analysis

* 00:40:12 - IASEAI (International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence)

* 00:40:53 - The AI Whistleblower Initiative

* 00:41:33 - Organizations Related To Potentially Pausing AI Or Otherwise Having A Strong International AI Treaty

* 00:41:41 - Pause AI and Pause AI Global

* 00:43:03 - MIRI

* 00:44:19 - Existential Risk Observatory

* 00:45:16 - Organizations Focusing Primary On AI Policy and Diplomacy

* 00:45:55 - Center for AI Safety and the CAIS Action Fund

* 00:47:31 - Foundation for American Innovation (FAI)

* 00:50:29 - Encode AI (Formerly Encode Justice)

* 00:51:31 - The Future Society

* 00:52:23 - Safer AI

* 00:52:59 - Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS)

* 00:54:08 - AI Standards Lab (Holtman Research)

* 00:55:14 - Safe AI Forum

* 00:55:49 - Center For Long Term Resilience

* 00:57:33 - Simon Institute for Longterm Governance

* 00:58:30 - Legal Advocacy for Safe Science and Technology

* 00:59:42 - Institute for Law and AI

* 01:00:21 - Macrostrategy Research Institute

* 01:00:51 - Secure AI Project

* 01:01:29 - Organizations Doing ML Alignment Research

* 01:02:49 - Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR)

* 01:04:13 - Alignment Research Center (ARC)

* 01:04:51 - Apollo Research

* 01:05:43 - Cybersecurity Lab at University of Louisville

* 01:06:22 - Timaeus

* 01:07:25 - Simplex

* 01:07:54 - Far AI

* 01:08:28 - Alignment in Complex Systems Research Group

* 01:09:10 - Apart Research

* 01:10:15 - Transluce

* 01:11:21 - Organizations Doing Other Technical Work

* 01:11:24 - AI Analysts at RAND

* 01:12:17 - Organizations Doing Math, Decision Theory and Agent Foundations

* 01:13:39 - Orthogonal

* 01:14:28 - Topos Institute

* 01:15:24 - Eisenstat Research

* 01:16:02 - AFFINE Algorithm Design

* 01:16:25 - CORAL (Computational Rational Agents Laboratory)

* 01:17:15 - Mathematical Metaphysics Institute

* 01:18:21 - Focal at CMU

* 01:19:41 - Organizations Doing Cool Other Stuff Including Tech

* 01:19:50 - ALLFED

* 01:21:33 - Good Ancestor Foundation

* 01:22:56 - Charter Cities Institute

* 01:23:45 - Carbon Copies for Independent Minds

* 01:24:24 - Organizations Focused Primarily on Bio Risk

* 01:24:27 - Secure DNA

* 01:25:21 - Blueprint Biosecurity

* 01:26:06 - Pour Domain

* 01:26:53 - ALTER Israel

* 01:27:25 - Organizations That Can Advise You Further

* 01:28:03 - Effective Institutions Project (EIP) (As A Donation Advisor)

* 01:29:08 - Longview Philanthropy

* 01:30:44 - Organizations That then Regrant to Fund Other Organizations

* 01:32:00 - SFF Itself (!)

* 01:33:33 - Manifund

* 01:35:33 - AI Risk Mitigation Fund

* 01:36:18 - Long Term Future Fund

* 01:38:27 - Foresight

* 01:39:14 - Centre for Enabling Effective Altruism Learning & Research (CEELAR)

* 01:40:08 - Organizations That are Essentially Talent Funnels

* 01:42:08 - AI Safety Camp

* 01:42:48 - Center for Law and AI Risk

* 01:43:52 - Speculative Technologies

* 01:44:44 - Talos Network

* 01:45:28 - MATS Research

* 01:46:12 - Epistea

* 01:47:18 - Emergent Ventures

* 01:49:02 - AI Safety Cape Town

* 01:49:33 - ILINA Program

* 01:49:55 - Impact Academy Limited

* 01:50:28 - Atlas Computing

* 01:51:08 - Principles of Intelligence (Formerly PIBBSS)

* 01:52:00 - Tarbell Center

* 01:53:15 - Catalyze Impact

* 01:54:15 - CeSIA within EffiSciences

* 01:55:04 - Stanford Existential Risk Initiative (SERI)

* 01:55:49 - Non-Trivial

* 01:56:19 - CFAR

* 01:57:25 - The Bramble Center

* 01:58:20 - Final Reminders

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https://open.substack.com/pub/thezvi/p/the-big-nonprofits-post-2025?r=67y1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false