Advocacy organization · Funders · Campbell, CA (primary mailing address); Washington · Est. 2014
The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy and grantmaking organization focused on steering transformative technologies—especially advanced AI—toward pro-human outcomes and away from extreme large-scale risks. Its mission emphasizes governance and oversight, combining policy research and advocacy, communications and public education, scenario- and futures-oriented work, and grantmaking to support technical research and community-building for AI safety.
FLI’s institutional role is to act as a bridge between technical researchers and policymakers, and to help create widely endorsed governance frameworks for emerging technologies. It has coordinated the Asilomar AI Principles and continues to engage in AI governance issues through work spanning the United States and international processes. In parallel, FLI uses public-facing initiatives—such as the AI Safety Index and pro-human regulation campaigns—to generate accessible, externally oriented accountability mechanisms for frontier AI development. Strategically, FLI appears to be operating at the intersection of: (1) mainstreaming AI safety and governance into public and political debate; (2) producing structured, review-based scorecards (AI Safety Index) that attempt to quantify safety practices; and (3) maintaining a grantmaking pipeline that supports longer-horizon technical and policy work, including fellowship programs and targeted research grants.
The Dutch East India company was among the first modern companies to receive legal personhood. Should we reconsider what personhood means in the age of AI?
Statement: Anthropic warns of AI self-improvement risks, considers a pause"We are approaching a runaway to superintelligence that could threaten our shared human future."
FLI President on the White House Executive Order"This is an important step in the right direction... but voluntary frameworks are not enough"
Magnificent Humanity – The Pope’s First Encyclical Concerns AIEverything you need to know about the upcoming encyclical on AI.
White House working group on AI – Statement from FLI’s Anthony Aguirre"This move by the White House is also a recognition that Big Tech cannot self-regulate, and that the status quo is unacceptable."
FLI’s President and CEO on Trump’s support for an AI ‘kill switch’President Trump said during an interview aired yesterday by Fox Business that “there should be” when asked if AI needs […]
FLI CEO’s statement on the attack against Sam Altman’s homeAnthony Aguirre, President and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, issued the following statement in response to the attack […]
Prominent Scientists, Faith Leaders, Policymakers and Artists Call for a Prohibition on Superintelligence, as Poll Shows Americans Don’t Want ItInitial signatories include AI pioneers Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, leading media voices Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck, Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice, business trailblazers Steve Wozniak and Richard Branson, five Nobel Laureates, former Irish President Mary Ro
Statement: Head of US Policy on the White House AI legislative recommendationsThe White House published it’s long-awaited AI legislative recommendations on Friday, and it still includes a call for Congress to […]
Governor DeSantis Directs Florida State Agencies to Partner with Future of Life Institute to Shield Families from AI HarmThe collaboration will produce a Crisis Counselor Training Curriculum and a statewide AI Harms Reporting Form targeting dangerous AI companion applications
“This is What it Means to be Pro-Human” Declares Broad Coalition of Conservative, Progressive, and Civil Society Groups in Statement of Shared Principles on AIAmid a rising backlash to Silicon Valley overreach, a remarkably diverse group from across the political spectrum announced a set of AI principles to clearly define the goals of the emerging pro-human movement.
Statement from Max Tegmark on the Department of War’s ultimatum"Our safety and basic rights must not be at the mercy of a company's internal policy; lawmakers must work to codify these overwhelmingly popular red lines into law."
FLI announced a superintelligence prohibition initiative signed by a broad coalition and released a related U.S. poll results supporting strong regulation and conditions for any development of superintelligence.
“This is What it Means to be Pro-Human” Declares Broad Coalition of Conservative, Progressive, and Civil Society Groups in Statement of Shared Principles on AIFLI reported a coalition declaration outlining “pro-human” AI principles, including “keeping humans in charge” and principles intended to support human agency, accountability, and protections around the human experience.
Future of Life Institute Launches Multimillion Dollar Nationwide AI Regulation CampaignFLI launched the “Protect What’s Human” campaign, stating it would support commonsense AI safety rules at federal and state levels and could spend up to $8 million to engage Americans in multiple states.
AI Company Safety Practices Fall Short of Public Commitments and Show Structural Weaknesses, as Top Performers Widen the GapFLI released its 2025 winter AI Safety Index, describing evaluator findings that AI company practices fell short of commitments, while also noting new transparency inputs through surveys.
Google DeepMind Falls Behind OpenAI in Latest Safety Review; All AI Companies Still Falling Short, Say ExpertsFLI released the Summer 2025 AI Safety Index, reporting comparative safety review results across major AI companies and emphasizing unresolved gaps—particularly around control and risk assessment.