Center for AI Safety
Center for AI Safety reported $10.2 million in revenue and $7.2 million in expenses for calendar year 2024. Of every $100 it spent, $87.79 went to program services, $10.18 to management and general costs and $2.03 to fundraising. Its largest source of revenue was contributions and grants: 93.8% of the total. The highest compensation it reported for one person was $321,283 (Executive Dir.). 8 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Source: Form 990, 2024.
Where $100 of spending went
Calendar year 2024 · Form 990, Part IX, line 25 · total expenses $7.2MFor context, the median across 192 covered science & technology charities: $84.33 programs, $15.67 management, $0.00 fundraising (medians computed separately, so they may not sum to $100).
Where $100 of revenue came from
Calendar year 2024 · Form 990, Part VIII · total revenue $10MThe 990 scorecard · same measures for every charity, no grades
| Measure | 2024 | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Program services Part IX 25(B) ÷ 25(A) | 87.8% | 83.2% |
| Management & general Part IX 25(C) ÷ 25(A) | 10.2% | 15.5% |
| Fundraising Part IX 25(D) ÷ 25(A) | 2.0% | 0.0% |
| Fundraising cost per $1 of contributions Part IX 25(D) ÷ Part VIII 1h | $0.02 | $0.00 |
| Contributions & grants share of revenue Part VIII 1h ÷ 12 | 93.8% | 51.6% |
| Government grants share of revenue Part VIII 1e ÷ 12 | 0.0% | 3.2% |
| Program service revenue share Part VIII 2g ÷ 12 | 2.5% | 19.2% |
| Highest reported compensation Part VII-A, columns D–F | $321,283 | $513,729 |
| Highest compensation as share of expenses Part VII-A ÷ Part IX 25(A) | 4.48% | 1.72% |
| People paid over $100,000 Part VII, line 2 | 8 | 27 |
| Net assets, in months of expenses Part X 33(B) ÷ monthly expenses | 19.4 | 14.7 |
| Independent voting board members Part VI 1a–1b | 2 of 3 | 94.3% |
A median is context, not a target: hospitals, universities, food banks and grantmakers spend in very different ways. What these measures can and can't tell you.
What the money paid for, in its own words
2024 · Form 990, Part III · the three largest programs by expenseCompute Cluster: CAIS runs an initiative to provide free compute for research projects in ML safety, based on a cluster of 256 A100 GPUs with dedicated support staff to enable non-industry researchers to conduct advanced AI safety research requiring cutting-edge models. Since launching in 2022, the CAIS Compute Cluster has become a cornerstone of global AI safety research. By 2024, more than 400 researchers had used the cluster to conduct safety-focused ML research, generating 121 research papers and accumulating over 5,000 citations. The cluster continues to remove financial and technical…
Research: CAIS conducts foundational research aimed at mitigating societal-scale risks posed by artificial intelligence. We develop technical benchmarks and methods which improve AI safety. We also examine AI safety from a multidisciplinary perspective that incorporates safety engineering, complex systems, international relations, and other disciplines. In 2024, CAIS made major strides in foundational AI safety by developing new tools to measure and mitigate national-security risks posed by advanced models. This work included releasing the WMDP Benchmark, the first public dataset for…
Highest reported compensation
2024 · Form 990, Part VII, Section A · roles as filed; names are in the filing, not here| Role | From this org | From related orgs | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Dir. Director/trustee, officer, 40.00 hrs/week | $314,534 | $0 | $6,749 | $321,283 |
| Policy Lead Listed in Part VII, 40.00 hrs/week | $198,071 | $0 | $14,458 | $212,529 |
| Research engineer Listed in Part VII, 40.00 hrs/week | $171,272 | $0 | $20,849 | $192,121 |
| COO Officer, 40.00 hrs/week | $169,980 | $0 | $12,095 | $182,075 |
| Director Officer, 40.00 hrs/week | $155,573 | $0 | $12,251 | $167,824 |
| Project Manager Listed in Part VII, 40.00 hrs/week | $150,379 | $0 | $13,134 | $163,513 |
| Research Engineer Listed in Part VII, 40.00 hrs/week | $143,070 | $0 | $9,584 | $152,654 |
| Research Engineer Listed in Part VII, 40.00 hrs/week | $131,032 | $0 | $12,691 | $143,723 |
8 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation from Center for AI Safety (Part VII, line 2). Compensation of current officers, directors and key employees totaled $671K (Part IX, line 5).
3 filings since FY2022 (9 mo.)
Form 990, Parts I, VII, IX and X · each row is that year's own filing, linkedGovernance answers, as filed
2024 · the organization's own yes/no answers; explanations, if any, are in Schedule O of the filing · what each means- Voting board members, and how many are independent Part VI, lines 1a–1b3 · 2 independent
- Audited financial statements Part XII 2bYes
- Conflict-of-interest policy Part VI 12aYes
- Whistleblower policy Part VI 13Yes
- Document retention policy Part VI 14Yes
- Independent process for top executive pay Part VI 15aYes
- Board given the 990 before filing Part VI 11aYes
- Family or business ties among insiders Part VI 2No
- Aware of a significant diversion of assets Part VI 5No
- Excess benefit transaction with an insider Part IV 25aNo
- Loans to or from insiders outstanding Part IV 26No
- Lobbying, or a 501(h) election in effect Part IV 4Yes
- Over $15,000 of professional fundraising services Part IV 18No
- Over $10,000 of activity outside the U.S. Part IV 14bNo
- Employees Part I, line 525
- Volunteers Part I, line 62
Private foundation grants it received
2 private foundations reported grants to Center for AI Safety totaling $2.8M on their tax year 2023 Form 990-PF returns. See which foundations, on WHOFUNDS.
Source: WHOFUNDS open grant graph, matched from Form 990-PF Part XV.
Correct a figure or respond
Every number above is copied from Center for AI Safety's own Form 990. If one doesn't match the filing, that's our error and we'll fix it. If you work for Center for AI Safety, you can publish a response that is linked from this page.
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Of every $100 Center for AI Safety spent in 2024, $87.79 went to programs. The full breakdown, from its IRS Form 990:
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All science & technology charities · Largest charities in California
Questions people ask
How much of Center for AI Safety's spending goes to programs?
In calendar year 2024, Center for AI Safety reported that 87.8% of its $7.2 million in expenses went to program services, 10.2% to management and general and 2.0% to fundraising (Form 990, Part IX).
How much does Center for AI Safety pay its top executive?
The largest total compensation Center for AI Safety reported for one person in calendar year 2024 was $321,283, for the role of Executive Dir. (Form 990, Part VII, including compensation from related organizations and other compensation).
Where does Center for AI Safety get its money?
Of $10.2 million in revenue in calendar year 2024, 93.8% came from contributions and grants and 2.5% from program service revenue (Form 990, Part VIII).
Is Center for AI Safety a registered charity?
The IRS lists EIN 88-1751310 as a 501(c)(3) organization (publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(a)(vi))), and its records show contributions as tax-deductible. Form 990 filings on record here cover tax years 2022, 2023, 2024. A filing shows what the organization reported; it doesn't by itself show whether a program works.
Sources
- 2024: Form 990 for calendar year 2024, object 202503219349323615 · read the filing · XML
- 2023: Form 990 for calendar year 2023, object 202511609349300741 · read the filing
- FY2022 (9 mo.): Form 990 for the 9-month short period ending December 31, 2022, object 202313199349329581 · read the filing
All filings for EIN 88-1751310: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Figures are as the organization reported them; we have not audited them.