Activity Update - May

This post is part of our monthly activity update series. Each activity update briefly describes what we've been up to in the last month and, hopefully, helps to shed light on how our priorities shift over time. Note that some of our time each month will be spent investigating future project opportunities that may not be covered in these posts until our plans are more solid.

Accomplishments

• In collaboration with the Center for Human-Compatible AI (CHAI), we...

  • Created a new position for an Office Assistant for CHAI. We also updated our Machine Learning Engineer job posting to reflect a more collaborative hiring process with CHAI.

  • Hired 2 interns for CHAI’s intern program. We are also providing relocation support for CHAI interns.

• In collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), we hired contractors to...

  • Set up the APPG for Future Generations and host the APPG’s launch event.

  • Provide research assistance to Sir Partha Dasgupta.

  • Provide research assistance to Dr. Simon Beard.

• We renewed a contract with John Halstead to continue supporting Toby Ord’s upcoming book on x-risk.

• We completed several significant internal activities:

  • We updated our “Grants to Organizations” investigation process, incorporating learnings from the Open Philanthropy Project’s grant investigation procedures (Open Phil’s public examples are here and here) and clarifying the steps for grant investigators.

  • We improved our systems for collaborating with partner organizations and for managing BERI contractors who primarily work with external collaborators.

• We increased the BERI Support Fund’s capacity to accept a more diverse pool of funding.

• Also, while both of these accomplishments occurred in early June, we would like to highlight them here as most of the work was completed in May:

  • We submitted the extensive financial documentation required by our auditors. (BERI has commissioned an outside auditor because we took in over $2 million in revenue last year; our audit is in June).

  • We announced BERI’s first Individual Grants program! We are hosting a Project Grants round; applicants who are interested in funding for a x-risk-reducing project can apply here.

Works in Progress
We are…

• Currently trialling a full-time Project Manager, Josh Jacobson.

• Investigating six organizations for possible grants from BERI.

• In the process of hiring several contractors to work with the Future of Humanity Institute.

• Looking to add to our contractor roster. In particular we hope to find a web designer, web developer, and senior programmer.