GovAI is currently fiscally sponsored by Effective Ventures (EV). This is a temporary relationship, which allows us to operate while we complete the process of becoming an independent registered charitable organization. GovAI operates autonomously from other EV projects.
While the fiscal sponsorship relationship is in place, GovAI is under the authority of the EV Board of Trustees. Once GovAI becomes fully independent, the GovAI Advisory Board will take over this authority and become the GovAI Board of Trustees. The Advisory Board consists of representatives from academia, industry, philanthropy, and the policy community. We are committed to following its recommendations, although they are not yet binding.
Decision-Making Within GovAI
Final decision-making authority within GovAI rests with the Acting Director, Ben Garfinkel. He is responsible for setting the overall direction of the organization and signing off on all sufficiently consequential decisions, except in cases where these decisions are more appropriately made by the GovAI Advisory Board or EV Board of Trustees. The President, Allan Dafoe, provides regular advice to the organization and collaborates on research projects. Allan is also the founder and former Director of GovAI and now serves as Head of Long-Term AI Strategy and Governance at DeepMind, a high-profile AI research company. We are conscious that dual roles of this form warrant careful attention to conflicts of interest. All GovAI team members and affiliates will be asked to recuse themselves from decisions where they possess moderate or strong conflicts of interest. In cases where they possess strong conflicts of interest, they will also be asked to refrain from offering opinions or any other inputs that could plausibly bias decisions.
Funding
GovAI is funded by philanthropic organizations. So far, we have received funding from Open Philanthropy, Jaan Tallinn (through the Survival and Flourishing Fund), a donor through Effective Giving*, the Long-Term Future Fund, and the Center for Emerging Risk Research. GovAI does not currently accept donations from for-profit organisations.
We will not accept donations that we believe might compromise the independence or accuracy of our work.
*The donor would prefer to remain anonymous. However, they are a not-for-profit organisation with funding from outside the AI industry.
