Oliver Habryka on OpenPhil and GoodVentures - EA Forum
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TimothyTelleenLawton
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3/5
Good(3)Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.
Rating inherited from publication venue: EA Forum
Relevant to understanding constraints on AI safety funding flows; represents one insider perspective on Open Philanthropy's grantmaking dynamics, though notably one-sided and disputed by Open Phil's written response.
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CommunityBuilding effective altruismCoefficient GivingCriticism of effective altruist organizationsCriticism of work in effective altruismEffective altruism fundingPodcasts
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Summary
Oliver Habryka argues that Open Philanthropy Project's funding decisions have become increasingly constrained by the reputational concerns of primary funder Dustin Moskovitz and Good Ventures since mid-2023. He claims poor communication between Open Phil staff and Good Ventures leadership has created a de facto requirement that grants be not just low-risk but obviously low-risk, limiting funding for important but controversial work. Open Phil provided a written response but declined to participate in the recorded discussion.
Key Points
- •Habryka claims Open Phil has shifted to requiring 'obviously low reputational risk' rather than merely 'low reputational risk' in grant decisions since mid-2023/early-2024.
- •The dynamic allegedly stems from poor communication channels between Open Phil program staff and Good Ventures/Moskovitz leadership.
- •This constraint may be limiting Open Phil's ability to fund important AI safety or other EA-adjacent work that carries reputational sensitivity.
- •The podcast is explicitly one-sided; Open Phil chose to submit a written response rather than participate in the recorded discussion.
- •The piece reflects broader tensions in the EA/AI safety funding ecosystem around institutional risk-aversion and donor influence over grantmaking.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | Organization | 50.0 |
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# Oliver Habryka on OpenPhil and GoodVentures
By TimothyTelleenLawton
Published: 2025-05-02
In [this episode](https://youtu.be/uD37AKRx2fg) of our podcast, Elizabeth Van Nostrand and I talk to Oliver Habryka of Lightcone Infrastructure about his thoughts on the Open Philanthropy Project, which he believes has become stifled by the PR interests of its primary funder, Good Ventures.
Oliver’s main claim is that around mid 2023 or early 2024, Good Ventures founder Dustin Moskovitz became more concerned about his reputation, and this put a straight jacket over what Open Phil could fund. Moreover it was not enough for a project to be good and pose low reputational risk; it had to be *obviously* low reputational risk, because OP employees didn’t have enough communication with Good Ventures to pitch exceptions. According to Habryka.
That’s a big caveat; this podcast is pretty one sided. We invited OpenPhil to send a representative to record their own episode, but they decided to just send a written response (which is linked below and read at end of the episode). If anyone out there wants to asynchronously argue with Habryka on a separate episode, we’d love to hear from you.
Transcript available [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VcLFI1MYv7WZbIUVj1eJ7xGBPXxCBZ_D/edit).
Links from the episode:
[An Update From Good Ventures](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/foQPogaBeNKdocYvF/linkpost-an-update-from-good-ventures) (note: Dustin has deleted his account and his comments are listed as anonymous, but are not the only anonymous)
[CEA announcing the sale of Wytham Abbey](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/yggjKEeehsnmMYnZd/announcement-on-the-future-of-wytham-abbey)
[OpenPhli career page](https://www.openphilanthropy.org/careers/)
[Job reporting to Amy WL](https://web.archive.org/web/20250328184228/https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/centreforeffectivealtruism/685ec578-d411-46bc-9410-d9348014205b)
[Zach’s “this is false”](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/AFMRWvCCgRyys9JXP/has-your-organisation-lost-funding-due-to-the-good-ventures?commentId=uq78YkbedxpmbW6aA)
[Luke Muelhauser on GV not funding right of center work](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/hCQwysXaAPdQDXygu/lukeprog-s-quick-takes?commentId=NSFmh8zGeQGTmj9Nk)
[Will MacAskill on decentralization and EA](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DdSszj5NXk45MhQoq/decision-making-and-decentralisation-in-ea)
[Alexander Berger regrets the Wytham Abbey grant](https://www.openphilanthropy.org/research/our-progress-in-2023-and-plans-for-2024/)
[Single Chan-Zuckerberg employee demanding resignation](https://www.businessinsider.com/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-employee-demands-zuckerberg-resign-report-2020-6) over failure to moderate Trump posts on Facebook
[Letter from 70+ CZ employees](https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/6/17/21294396/mark-zuckerberg-priscilla-chan-philanthropy-education-george-floyd-petition-czi) asking for more DEI within Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
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