Research institute · Research orgs · Remote organization (no central office); team members based across the United States and in other countries · Est. 2011
The Global Catastrophic Risk Institute (GCRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank working on research and decision-relevant analysis of events that could significantly harm or destroy human civilization at a global scale. GCRI states its mission as developing “the best ways to confront humanity’s gravest threats,” and describes its role as bridging academic scholarship with real-world decision-making across government, industry, and other sectors.
GCRI’s work spans multiple global-catastrophic-risk “topics” and emphasizes interdisciplinary analysis and cross-risk thinking. It also runs programs designed to grow talent and networks in the field: an Advising and Collaboration Program and a Fellowship Program. As of 2025, GCRI reported organizational redevelopment that included launching a new gcri.org website, a GCRI Commentary publication series, and a GCRI video effort (including a new YouTube channel introduced in 2025).
No indexed openings right now. Check the careers page ↗.
Militaries 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
Political Corruption and Global Catastrophic RiskResearch and advocacy on global catastrophic risk may be irrelevant if good policy is blocked by corrupt politicians who have sold out to private interests, especially fossil fuel companies for climate policy and tech companies for AI policy. This GCRI commentary argues that corr
Earth-Cosmos BinaryWhat should be done with the cosmos? This paper, published in the journal Futures , provides the rough contours of an answer: an Earth-Cosmos Binary (ECB). An ECB preserves Earth, plus a region surrounding Earth, in more-or-less its current form, while letting the rest of the cos
AI Risk and Strategy, Early 2026The past year has seen substantial but uneven advancements in AI. This GCRI commentary finds that extreme short-term AI scenarios remain unlikely but not impossible. On strategy, the article argues for building political power on AI risk, especially to influence the post-2029 US
Concepts for Advancing PeaceWorld peace is often seen as a lofty theoretical ideal. This GCRI commentary asks, in more practical terms, What can we do? It presents 17 concepts for how to advance peace. It sees particular promise in concepts for persuading people to want to pursue peace, such as publicizing
A Critique of the Goal of World PeaceWorld peace can be defined as the complete absence of war. This GCRI commentary argues that the goal of achieving world peace poses significant concerns, including the difficulty of eliminating all wars and the potential for inadvertent harm. It argues to instead focus on reducin
An International Dialogue among Catastrophic Risk ResearchersInternational conflict poses several catastrophic risks. This GCRI commentary argues that global catastrophic risk researchers can promote international peace and cooperation by establishing stronger international networks with their counterparts in other countries, similar to wh
GCRI published its 2025 Annual Report describing 2025 organizational redevelopment including the launch of the new gcri.org website, the GCRI Commentary series, and GCRI videos; it also includes reported community-support outputs from GCRI programs.
2025 GCRI Fellowship ProgramGCRI announced the 2025 Fellowship Program and named three fellows, including one fellow collaborating on international security and China-West relations with emphasis on catastrophic AI risk, and two fellows collaborating on research into US public views on global catastrophic risk.
Summary of the 2025 Advising and Collaboration ProgramGCRI summarized the 2025 Advising and Collaboration Program, reporting the number of applicants, advising calls, and cross-network introductions among participants.
Announcing GCRI VideosGCRI announced a new line of activity: producing videos on global catastrophic risk, beginning with a series on the GCRI YouTube channel; it also described how video is intended to support wider public engagement.
Open Call for Advisees and Collaborators, June 2025GCRI posted an open call for advisees and collaborators for its Advising and Collaboration Program (the page indicates the call is closed, while still inviting interest for the next round).
Welcome to the New GCRI Website at gcri.orgGCRI announced a redesigned website at gcri.org with expanded topic coverage and dedicated sections for its programs, and thanked collaborators involved in the website and related email-system setup.