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Founders Fund - Wikipedia
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Background reference on a major VC firm whose founders and investments are relevant to understanding Silicon Valley perspectives on AI development, risk, and governance debates.
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Importance: 20/100wiki pagereference
Summary
Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel that has invested in transformative technology companies including SpaceX, Palantir, and Airbnb. The firm is notable in the AI safety context for its investments in AI capabilities companies and its founders' perspectives on technology risk and progress. Peter Thiel and other partners have been influential voices in debates around AI development, regulation, and existential risk.
Key Points
- •Founded by Peter Thiel, Ken Howery, and Luke Nosek after PayPal, with a philosophy of investing in companies building transformative technologies
- •Notable portfolio includes SpaceX, Palantir, Facebook (early), Airbnb, and AI/defense technology companies
- •Peter Thiel has been publicly skeptical of certain AI safety narratives while also acknowledging long-term risks from advanced AI
- •The firm represents a strand of Silicon Valley thinking that prioritizes technological progress and is wary of over-regulation
- •Relevant to AI governance discussions as a major funder influencing the direction of frontier technology development
Cited by 1 page
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| Founders Fund | Organization | 50.0 |
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# Founders Fund
Founders Fund
San Francisco-based venture capital firm
| [](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Founders_Fund_logo_(2015).svg) |
| Company type | Venture fund |
| Industry | [Venture capital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital "Venture capital") |
| Founded | July2005;20years ago(2005-07) |
| Founders | [Peter Thiel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel "Peter Thiel")<br>[Ken Howery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Howery "Ken Howery")<br>[Luke Nosek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Nosek "Luke Nosek") |
| Headquarters | [Letterman Digital Arts Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterman_Digital_Arts_Center "Letterman Digital Arts Center")<br>San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Key people | [Peter Thiel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel "Peter Thiel")<br>[Luke Nosek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Nosek "Luke Nosek")<br>[Mike Solana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Solana "Mike Solana")<br>[Trae Stephens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trae_Stephens "Trae Stephens")<br>Lauren Gross <br> Scott Nolan <br> Napoleon Ta |
| [AUM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assets_under_management "Assets under management") | US$17billion (2025) |
| Number of employees | 38[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-kingdom-1)(2025) |
| Website | [www.foundersfund.com](http://www.foundersfund.com/) |
Founders Fund
**Founders Fund** is an American [venture capital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital "Venture capital") fund formed in 2005 and based in [San Francisco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco "San Francisco"). The fund has roughly $17 billion in total [assets under management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assets_under_management "Assets under management") as of 2025.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-3) Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in Space Exploration Technologies ( [SpaceX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX "SpaceX")) and [Palantir Technologies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies "Palantir Technologies"), and an early investor in [Facebook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook "Facebook").[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-4)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-5)[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-6) The firm's partners have been founders, early employees and investors at companies including [PayPal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal "PayPal"), [Palantir Technologies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies "Palantir Technologies"), [Anduril Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anduril_Industries "Anduril Industries") and SpaceX.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founders_Fund#cite_note-7)
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