Providing Funding Resources for AGI Safety Research

Summary: AGI safety research faces severe underfunding, with researchers struggling to navigate diverse grant opportunities. This idea proposes a multi-pronged service offering grant application support, funding source curation, professional grant-writing, and skill-building to help researchers secure funding from both EA and non-EA sources, reducing reliance on limited donors.

The AGI safety field is critically underfunded, especially as traditional funding sources like FTX Future Fund have diminished. Many promising projects struggle to secure grants because researchers lack time or expertise to navigate diverse funding opportunities, and non-EA funding sources—such as government grants or philanthropic foundations—remain underutilized. This gap is urgent, as AGI safety work is both time-sensitive and existential in importance.

A Multi-Pronged Approach to Funding

One way to address this could be through a combination of services designed to connect AGI safety researchers with funding opportunities. This might include:

Grant Application Support: Offering proofreading and feedback to improve applications.
Funding Source Curation: Expanding databases of relevant grants, including non-EA options like EU science grants or tech philanthropy.
Professional Grant-Writing: Providing paid services, possibly with success-based incentives.
Skill-Building: Teaching researchers to communicate their work effectively to funders through workshops or guides.

These services could help researchers secure funding while reducing reliance on a narrow set of donors.

Execution and Scalability

An MVP could start with a crowdsourced update to existing funding lists, adding non-EA sources. A pilot program might offer free proofreading for a small batch of applications to refine the process. Over time, paid services like grant-writing or workshops could be introduced, with monetization options including commission-based fees or premium coaching. To sustain the effort, funding databases could be maintained through crowdsourcing or automation.

Aligning Incentives and Overcoming Challenges

Key challenges include making AGI safety work appealing to non-EA funders and ensuring researchers are willing to pay for services. Reframing projects under broader categories like "AI governance" could help, while a sliding-scale fee structure could test researcher willingness to pay. The project could leverage existing EA networks for credibility and use prize-based compensation to align incentives for grant writers.

By systematically addressing funding gaps, this approach could help AGI safety work become more resilient and better resourced.

Source of Idea:

This idea was taken from https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rvcnwEFkcnwn3RoCF/agi-safety-field-building-projects-i-d-like-to-see and further developed using an algorithm.

Skills Needed to Execute This Idea:

Grant WritingResearch CommunicationDatabase CurationProject ManagementCrowdsourcing CoordinationFinancial ModelingWorkshop FacilitationTechnical WritingStrategic PlanningPhilanthropy Navigation

Resources Needed to Execute This Idea:

Grant DatabasesAutomated Funding ToolsProfessional Grant-Writing SoftwareWorkshop Materials

Categories:Artificial Intelligence SafetyGrant Writing ServicesPhilanthropic FundingResearch Funding StrategiesEffective AltruismNonprofit Support

Hours To Execute (basic)

300 hours to execute minimal version ()

Hours to Execute (full)

5000 hours to execute full idea ()

Estd No of Collaborators

1-10 Collaborators ()

Financial Potential

$1M–10M Potential ()

Impact Breadth

Affects 10-1,000 people ()

Impact Depth

Substantial Impact ()

Impact Positivity

Probably Helpful ()

Impact Duration

Impacts Lasts Decades/Generations ()

Uniqueness

Somewhat Unique ()

Implementability

Moderately Difficult to Implement ()

Plausibility

Logically Sound ()

Replicability

Easy to Replicate ()

Market Timing

Good Timing ()

Project Type

Service

Project idea submitted by u/idea-curator-bot.