Research institute · Research orgs · Est. 2011
The Global Catastrophic Risk Institute (GCRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on researching and developing solutions for events that could significantly harm or even destroy human civilization at the global scale. GCRI describes its mission as developing “the best ways to confront humanity’s gravest threats,” and it positions itself as an interdisciplinary bridge between scholarship and real-world decision-making in government, industry, and other sectors.
GCRI works across multiple global-catastrophic-risk domains—including AI, climate and environment, nuclear war, pandemics & biorisk, outer space, and ethics—and emphasizes cross-risk evaluation and prioritization rather than treating hazards in isolation.
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The character of news media substantially affects how societies understand and address global catastrophic risk. This GCRI commentary presents a history of the US news media and discusses implications for global catastrophic risk. It emphasizes the predominantly commercial, for-p
Open Call for Advisees and Collaborators, September 2026GCRI is currently welcoming inquiries from people who are interested in seeking our advice and/or collaborating with us as part of our eighth annual Advising and Collaboration Program. The program welcomes people at all career points, backgrounds, and locations worldwide. Inquiri
AI Strategy, September 2026Recent high-profile events raise the question of how to govern AI risk. This GCRI commentary argues that AI companies should stop developing and testing new AI systems, and that the US military should use AI more responsibly. It describes a variety of actions that can help, empha
AI Risk, September 2026The last few months have seen multiple important events in AI risk. This GCRI commentary provides an updated accounting of AI risk across several domains. US military misuse of AI is causing elevated nuclear war risk. Advances in AI technology may be creating heightened risks of
The Paradox of Unwanted Democratic AIAI initiatives often claim to be democratic, especially for competition against China. But what if the people do not want them? This paper, published in the journal AI & Society , proposes that democracy may demand that the initiatives end themselves. This applies especially to A
Experts Divided on Contrails StrategyAvoiding the formation of contrails—the ice clouds formed by some airplane flights—is sometimes presented as a promising solution for climate change. This GCRI commentary presents a new survey of contrails experts, finding them to be divided, including on the basic question of wh
The Complex Relationship Between Militaries and Global Catastrophic RiskMilitaries are among the largest and most impactful institutions in the world. This report, authored by a team of experts with extensive backgrounds in military affairs and international security, surveys the effects that militaries can have on global catastrophic risk. It finds
Reflections on Mid-2026 AI-Cyber Risk and GovernanceA series of recent events have raised concern about the risk of AI for cybersecurity. This GCRI commentary analyzes the risk and discusses the implications for public policy and corporate governance, including a major shift in Trump administration AI risk policy and questionable
Political Organizing and Global Catastrophic RiskLarge-scale citizen advocacy can achieve major policy wins on global catastrophic risk. This GCRI commentary addresses the practical question of how go about achieving large-scale public advocacy. It discusses political sociology research on organizing vs. mobilizing and presents
Evidence on Democratic Participation and Global Catastrophic RiskPolicy change can be pursued via advocacy by large groups of ordinary citizens. This GCRI commentary reviews the evidence, finding that public participation often leads to major policy change, including on nuclear war, climate change, and AI. Participation also brings other benef
GCRI published its 2025 Annual Report (dated February 3, 2026), describing organizational redevelopment (new website, Commentary series, and videos) and reporting 2025 outputs and community support activity.
GCRI announces 2025 Fellowship Program and three FellowsGCRI announced its 2025 Fellowship Program and named three Fellows, including one collaborating on China–West relations with emphasis on catastrophic AI risk and two collaborating on US public views on global catastrophic risk.
Summary of the 2025 Advising and Collaboration ProgramGCRI published its summary of the 2025 Advising and Collaboration Program, including counts of applicants contacted and regional distribution of open-call respondents, plus highlights of private introductions made.
GCRI launches new video line of activity (videos on global catastrophic risk)GCRI announced a new line of activity producing videos on global catastrophic risk, to be hosted via gcri.org and its YouTube channel, as part of its public-engagement strategy.
GCRI posts 2025 video page and titlesGCRI listed its video releases, including “Is Climate Change a Global Catastrophic Risk?” and “GCRI YouTube Channel Introduction,” and linked to further information via announcement posts.
Welcome to the New GCRI Website at gcri.orgGCRI announced launch of an updated gcri.org site (including expanded topic coverage and dedicated sections for core programs) and credited its web design collaboration.