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Funding from FTX — Alignment Research Center
webalignment.org·alignment.org/funding-from-ftx/
This transparency disclosure became relevant after FTX's November 2022 collapse, which disrupted funding for multiple AI safety organizations including ARC; useful for understanding the financial ecosystem of AI safety research circa 2022-2023.
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Importance: 22/100organizational reportnews
Summary
This page from the Alignment Research Center (ARC) discloses funding received from FTX Future Fund, providing transparency about the organization's financial relationship with the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. It serves as an institutional transparency notice following the FTX collapse in November 2022, which had significant implications for AI safety funding ecosystems.
Key Points
- •ARC received funding from FTX/FTX Future Fund, which collapsed in November 2022 amid fraud allegations against Sam Bankman-Fried.
- •The page represents ARC's commitment to financial transparency regarding its funding sources.
- •The FTX collapse had broad implications for the AI safety funding landscape, as FTX Future Fund was a major donor to alignment organizations.
- •This disclosure is relevant to understanding conflicts of interest and funding dependencies in the AI safety research community.
- •The page contextualizes ARC's financial situation and potential operational impacts following the FTX bankruptcy.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| EA Epistemic Failures in the FTX Era | -- | 84.0 |
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Earlier in 2022 ARC received a grant for $1.25M from the FTX Foundation. We now believe that this money morally (if not legally) belongs to FTX customers or creditors, so we intend to return $1.25M to them. It may not be clear how to do this responsibly for some time depending on how bankruptcy proceedings evolve, and if unexpected revelations change the situation (e.g. if customers and creditors are unexpectedly made whole) then we may change our decision. We'll post an update here when we have a more concrete picture; in the meantime we will set aside the money and not spend it. We feel this is a particularly straightforward decision for ARC because we haven't spent most of the money and have other supporters happy to fill our funding gap. We think the moral question is more complex for organizations that have already spent the money, especially on projects that they wouldn't have done if not for FTX, and who have less clear prospects for fundraising. _2024 update_: ARC has now returned this grant (less legal and administrative expenses) to the FTX bankruptcy estate.
Resource ID:
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