We’ve investigated a number of topics to inform the causes we choose to focus on. This page includes the public writeups we have available from our cause investigations, as well as research reports we have written on topics related to our established focus areas.
Research Reports
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Title
-
Date
-
Focus Area
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Author(s)
March 12, 2013
April 01, 2013
Title
Seasonal Migration within Low-Income Countries
Date
April 2013
Focus Area
Immigration Policy
Author
April 01, 2013
Title
Update on Co-Funding Grant to Population Services International Myanmar – April 2013
Date
April 2013
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
May 05, 2013
May 10, 2013
May 11, 2013
June 01, 2013
August 01, 2013
Title
Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa
Date
August 2013
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
August 01, 2013
Title
Environment for Business in Low-Income Countries
Date
August 2013
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
September 11, 2013
Title
Treatment of Animals in Industrial Agriculture
Date
September 2013
Focus Area
Farm Animal Welfare
Author
September 16, 2013
October 01, 2013
Title
Traffic Safety in Low and Middle-Income Countries
Date
October 2013
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
November 01, 2013
Title
Tobacco Control in Low and Middle-Income Countries
Date
November 2013
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
November 11, 2013
November 13, 2013
November 14, 2013
Title
Attendance of Selective Colleges amongst High-Performing, Low-Income Students
Date
November 2013
Focus Area
Other Areas
Author
November 23, 2013
January 10, 2014
Title
Increasing the Supply of Organs for Transplantation in the U.S.
Date
January 2014
Focus Area
Global Health & Wellbeing
Author
January 11, 2014
February 01, 2014
Title
Improving Disaster Shelters to Increase the Chances of Recovery from a Global Catastrophe
Date
February 2014
Focus Area
Global Catastrophic Risks
Author
February 01, 2014
February 01, 2014
Title
Improving Funding Allocation within HIV/AIDS Programs in Developing Countries
Date
February 2014
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
May 10, 2014
May 12, 2014
May 12, 2014
May 14, 2014
September 01, 2014
Title
Aid to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States
Date
September 2014
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
January 01, 2015
Title
December 2014 Update on IOM Haiti Grant
Date
January 2015
Focus Area
Immigration Policy
Author
March 01, 2015
March 11, 2015
April 20, 2015
Title
Advocacy for Improved or Increased U.S. Foreign Aid
Date
April 2015
Focus Area
Global Health & Wellbeing
Author
May 11, 2015
June 05, 2015
Title
Risks from Atomically Precise Manufacturing
Date
June 2015
Focus Area
Global Catastrophic Risks
Author
July 05, 2015
August 01, 2015
Title
Excerpts from Emails About ARNOVA Grant
Date
August 2015
Focus Area
History of Philanthropy
Author
August 11, 2015
Title
Potential Risks from Advanced Artificial Intelligence
Date
August 2015
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
September 13, 2015
October 01, 2015
Title
Governance of Solar Radiation Management
Date
October 2015
Focus Area
Global Catastrophic Risks
Author
October 01, 2015
October 12, 2015
Title
What Do We Know about AI Timelines?
Date
October 2015
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
December 10, 2015
Title
Informal Writeup on DRACOs as Potential Antiviral Treatment
Date
December 2015
Focus Area
Scientific Research
Author
December 13, 2015
January 12, 2016
Title
Update on Co-Funding Grant to Population Services International Myanmar – January 2016
Date
January 2016
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
February 01, 2016
Title
December 2015 Update on IOM Haiti Grant
Date
February 2016
Focus Area
Immigration Policy
Author
March 10, 2016
March 10, 2016
April 01, 2016
April 10, 2016
May 01, 2016
Title
What Should We Learn from Past AI Forecasts?
Date
May 2016
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
August 01, 2016
Title
Behavioral Treatments for Insomnia
Date
August 2016
Focus Area
Global Health & Wellbeing
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
September 01, 2016
Title
Evaluation of some technology forecasts from “The Year 2000”
Date
September 2016
Focus Area
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
October 13, 2016
Title
Research on Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Date
October 2016
Focus Area
Scientific Research
Author
April 01, 2017
Title
April 2017 Update on Grant to the Future of Life Institute for Artificial Intelligence RFP
Date
April 2017
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
April 09, 2017
Title
Some Case Studies in Early Field Growth
Date
April 2017
Focus Area
History of Philanthropy
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
May 01, 2017
Title
May 2017 Update on Grant to Pew Charitable Trusts
Date
May 2017
Focus Area
Criminal Justice Reform
Author
June 08, 2017
Title
2017 Report on Consciousness and Moral Patienthood
Date
June 2017
Focus Area
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
September 13, 2017
September 15, 2017
Title
How Will Hen Welfare Be Impacted by the Transition to Cage-Free Housing?
Date
September 2017
Focus Area
Farm Animal Welfare
Author
Ajeya Cotra
October 01, 2017
Title
October 2017 Update on Protect the People Grant
Date
October 2017
Focus Area
Immigration Policy
Author
October 01, 2017
Title
A Software Agent Illustrating Some Features of an Illusionist Account of Consciousness
Date
October 2017
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Luke Muehlhauser
October 01, 2017
Title
Scientific Research Grants from the 2016 NIH Transformative Research Award RFP
Date
October 2017
Focus Area
Scientific Research
Author
December 01, 2017
April 01, 2018
Title
Research and Development to Decrease Biosecurity Risks from Viral Pathogens
Date
April 2018
Focus Area
Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness
Author
June 15, 2020
September 11, 2020
Title
How Much Computational Power Does It Take to Match the Human Brain?
Date
September 2020
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Joseph Carlsmith
March 25, 2021
Title
Semi-Informative Priors Over AI Timelines
Date
March 2021
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Tom Davidson
June 07, 2021
June 07, 2021
June 25, 2021
Title
Could Advanced AI Drive Explosive Economic Growth?
Date
June 2021
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Tom Davidson
May 16, 2022
Title
History of Philanthropy: Work We’ve Commissioned
Date
May 2022
Focus Area
History of Philanthropy
Author
July 03, 2022
October 06, 2022
Title
Civil Conflict Reduction
Date
October 2022
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
Lauren Gilbert
October 06, 2022
Title
Telecommunications in LMICs
Date
October 2022
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
Lauren Gilbert
November 23, 2022
Title
Does Putting Kids in School Now Put Money in Their Pockets Later? Revisiting a Natural Experiment in Indonesia
Date
November 2022
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
David Roodman
January 11, 2023
June 27, 2023
Title
What a Compute-Centric Framework Says About Takeoff Speeds
Date
June 2023
Focus Area
Potential Risks from Advanced AI
Author
Tom Davidson
December 01, 2023
Title
A Case Study on Insecticide-Treated Bednets
Date
December 2023
Focus Area
Global Health & Development
Author
Lauren Gilbert
April 16, 2024