Project summary

Between December 2023-March 2024 I was working on creating a proactive AI safety advocacy organization tentatively called AI Watch. This was funded until the end of 2023 but I wasn’t compensated for my time on the project after that. In late March, the co-founder decided to switch to a different project and I ended up dropping the comms org idea.

This grant would fund my prior work as well as provide transition support for finding a new job or grant. 

What are this project's goals and how can they be achieved?

Another funder recommended this in May but was ultimately unable to disperse funding due to restrictions on what forms of funding their legal entity can provide to individuals. This funding request is asking for what the prior funder had agreed to give. This will give me compensation for past work, performed with an expectation I would receive this previous grant, and alleviate some financial concerns which arose because of the complicated funding situation. It will also allow me some extra time to figure out what I will do next, once I finish my current, temporary, employment situation. 

How will this funding be used?

Aside from funding for work on the AI advocacy project, my time has been spent and, in November will be spent: 

• Helping start an AI governance forum (ongoing) 

• Applying for a variety of jobs in the AI governance space

• Searching for potential co-founders/collaborators

• Writing on learnings from the AI Watch project, case studies on past advocacy wins (e.g. seatbelts, global warming), and relevant learnings from recent work in elections. 

• Getting up-to-speed on current AI policy proposals along with quick distillation work on them. 

• Exploring other project ideas

Who is on the team and what's their track record on similar projects?

For the past few years I (Alex Lintz) have been something of an entrepreneur in the AI governance space. I’ve helped start The AI Governance Archive (TAIGA), the AI Safety Communications Centre (AISCC), and the Long-term AI Strategy Retreat (LAISR). With a small team, I’m currently working on starting an organization which will work on election-related projects. I’m also working with another team to plan strategy, find funding, and hire a founder who can take charge of starting an AI governance forum with our help & supervision. Outside of this, I’ve worked on (often semi-private) research projects aiming to understand the strategic landscape in AI governance.