Global Catastrophic Risks Program

We live in an era of new perils.

Advanced AI systems are arriving sooner than expected. The nuclear landscape is growing more complex as arms control agreements lapse. And biosecurity remains severely underfunded.

These global catastrophic risks have the potential to kill hundreds of millions, even billions, of people. Addressing these risks, especially the transition to increasingly powerful AI, will require sustained international cooperation. Yet far too little philanthropic capital is directed toward building the relationships and institutions that make cooperation possible.

We– scientists, policymakers, engineers, military leaders, and motivated citizens – can come together to mitigate these risks. It's happened before. During the Cold War, political leaders negotiated to reduce stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. At the turn of the millennium, scientists tracked large asteroids and comets in Earth’s vicinity. Today, international tensions are unusually high, but even geopolitical rivals are working together on global preparedness for the next pandemic disease.

Our Global Catastrophic Risks Program tackles far-future threats and takes action now to help protect every human being alive today. We aim to:

• Reduce the probability of large-scale catastrophic events;
• Mitigate the potential negative impacts of these events if they occur;
• Improve the ability to anticipate new and emerging risks on the horizon.

Want to tackle climate change? We have an entire program dedicated to it.

Great power conflict and nuclear risk

We fund backchannel diplomacy between current, former, and likely future officials of rival powers (sometimes called "Track II" or "Track 1.5" dialogues), confidence-building measures for military AI, and interventions to reduce nuclear risk. Currently, backchannel diplomacy programs involving the US receive just $1 to $4 million per year in total philanthropic funding, with Founders Pledge being one of the largest funders in this space. These are among the highest-leverage, most underfunded areas in catastrophic risk reduction.

AI safety and governance

AI capabilities are advancing faster than the institutions designed to govern them. We fund work that connects technical safety research to real-world policy: evaluation and control infrastructure that bridges the gap between the lab and deployment, scenario exercises and dialogues that prepare policymakers for what advanced AI systems will demand of them, and politically resilient advocacy that can survive changes in administration.

Biosecurity

Advances in biosecurity, especially in combination with advanced AI, could lead to human extinction. Despite this risk, total philanthropic funding for catastrophic biosecurity remains in the tens to low hundreds of millions annually. We work with partner organizations, particularly Coefficient Giving, to fill ecosystem gaps, bring in new donors, and work to build a more diversified and resilient funding base for the field as a whole.

Experimental

We allocate a portion of funds for promising opportunities that don't fit neatly into the three main areas, such as cross-hazard resilience, threat-agnostic detection and response, forecasting infrastructure, or novel cause areas uncovered by our research. Some of our most effective grants have come from staying open to the unexpected.

The Patient Philanthropy Fund is humanity's emergency fund. We pool contributions, invest them for long-term growth, and hold them in reserve until the point when they can do the most good for future generations, which may be decades away. Where our Global Catastrophic Risks Fund deploys capital now to confront the threats already in front of us, the PPF plays the long game, compounding so it stands ready when a crucial moment finally arrives.