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AI Now Institute

Safety Organization
Founded 2017 (9 years old)HQ: New York, NYainowinstitute.orgWiki page →FactBase →

Founded by Kate Crawford, and Meredith Whittaker

Research institute founded in 2017 at New York University (affiliated across 6 NYU faculties), pioneering research on AI and concentrated power. Co-Executive Directors Amba Kak and Sarah Myers West (Kak named TIME 100 Most Influential in AI, 2024; addressed UN General Assembly on AI governance). Known for annual AI landscape reports, algorithmic bias research, and advocacy against unregulated facial recognition and surveillance. Originally co-founded by Meredith Whittaker and Kate Crawford. Funded by Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Omidyar/Luminate, and MacArthur Foundation ($2M via Humanity AI). Primary intervention types: research, policy advocacy.

Headcount
15–30
as of Jun 2025

Facts

17
Financial
Grant Received$2 million
Headcount15–30
People
Founder (text)Kate Crawford
General
Websitehttps://ainowinstitute.org/
Biographical
Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_Now_Institute
Organization
Founded Date2017
HeadquartersNew York, NY
Legal StructureIndependent nonprofit research institute
CountryUnited States
Other
RecognitionCo-Executive Director Amba Kak named to TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI (2024)
FunderMozilla Foundation
Funding PolicyRefuses corporate and tech industry funding since 2022
Policy InfluenceAdvocated for facial recognition moratoriums; influenced bans in multiple US cities (San Francisco 2019, Portland 2020, and others)
PublicationAI Now 2019 Report — focused on facial recognition regulation, algorithmic accountability legislation, and climate impacts of AI
Independence Date2022

Other Data

Publications
11 entries
TitlePublicationTypeAuthorsUrlVenuePublishedDateIsFlagship
Artificial Power: 2025 Landscape ReportreportBrennan, Kak, Westainowinstitute.orgAI Now Institute2025-06
Redirecting Europe's AI Industrial Policypolicy-briefAI Now Instituteainowinstitute.org2025
AI Now 2025 Landscape: Confronting Tech PowerreportAI Now Instituteainowinstitute.org2025
AI Nationalism(s): Global Industrial Policy Approaches to AIreportKak et al.ainowinstitute.orgAI Now Institute2024-03
AI Nationalism(s): A Global PerspectivereportAmba Kak, Sarah Myers Westainowinstitute.org2024
AI Now 2023 Landscape: Confronting Tech PowerreportAI Now Instituteainowinstitute.org2023
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial IntelligencebookKate Crawfordyalebooks.yale.edu2021-04
Discriminating Data: Correlation, Neighborhoods, and the New Politics of RecognitionbookWendy Hui Kyong Chunainowinstitute.org2021
AI Now 2019 ReportreportAI Now Instituteainowinstitute.org2019
AI Now 2018 ReportreportAI Now Instituteainowinstitute.org2018
AI Now 2017 ReportreportAI Now Instituteainowinstitute.org2017

Divisions

2
Team

Policy advocacy team working on algorithmic accountability legislation and facial recognition regulation

Team

Core research team producing annual reports and policy analysis on AI social impacts

Related Wiki Pages

Top Related Pages

Approaches

AI Governance Research and Analysis

Policy

China AI Regulatory Framework

Other

Frederike KaltheunerSarah Myers WestNicol Turner LeeMiranda Bogen

Concepts

Safety Orgs OverviewAI Scaling Laws

Organizations

Center for AI SafetyGovAICenter for Democracy and TechnologyAda Lovelace InstituteCarnegie Endowment for International Peace AI ProgramStanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)

Key Debates

AI Structural Risk Cruxes

Risks

AI-Driven Institutional Decision CaptureAI Preference Manipulation

Historical

Anthropic-Pentagon Standoff (2026)