This matches my impression. FAR could definitely use more funding. Although I’d still at the margin rather hire someone above our bar than e.g. have them earn-to-give and donate to us, the math is getting a lot closer than it used to be, to the point where those with excellent earning potential and limited fit for AI safety might well have more impact pursuing a philanthropic pathway.
I’d also highlight there’s a serious lack of diversity in funding. As others in the thread have mentioned, the majority of people’s funding comes (directly or indirectly) from OpenPhil. I think OpenPhil does a good job trying to mitigate this (e.g. being careful about power dynamics, giving organizations exit grants if they do decide to stop funding an org, etc) it’s ultimately not a healthy dynamic, and OpenPhil appears to be quite capacity constrained in terms of grant evaluation. So, the entry of new funders would help diversify this in addition to increasing total capacity.
One thing I don’t see people talk about as much but also seems like a key part of the solution: how can alignment orgs and researchers make more efficient use of existing funding? Spending that was appropriate a year or two ago when funding was plentiful may not be justified any longer, so there’s a need to explicitly put in place appropriate budgets and spending controls. There’s a fair amount of cost-saving measures I could see the ecosystem implementing that would have limited if any hit on productivity: for example, improved cash management (investing in government money market funds earning ~5% rather than 0% interest checking accounts); negotiating harder with vendors (often possible to get substantial discounts on things like cloud compute or commercial real-estate); and cutting back on some fringe benefits (e.g. more/higher-density open plan rather than private offices). I’m not trying to point fingers here: I’ve made missteps here as well, for example FAR’s cash management currently has significant room for improvement—we’re in the process of fixing this and plan to share a write-up of what we found with other orgs in the next month.
investing in government money market funds earning ~5% rather than 0% interest checking accounts
It’s easier than that—there are high-interest-rate free FDIC-eligible checking accounts. MaxMyInterest.com has a good list, although you might need to be a member to view it. As of this moment (2023-07-20), the top of their leaderboard is: Customers Bank (5.20% APY), BankProv (5.15%), BrioDirect (5.06%), UFB Direct (5.06%).
Thanks, that’s a good link. In our case our assets significantly exceed the FDIC $250k insurance limit and there are operational costs to splitting assets across a large number of banks. But a high-interest checking account could be a good option for many small orgs.
our assets significantly exceed the FDIC $250k insurance limit and there are operational costs to splitting assets across a large number of banks
This isn’t strictly true: Some “banks” partner with many (real) banks to get greater FDIC coverage. E.g.: Wealthfront has up to $5M FDIC (so I imagine they partner with up to 20 accredited banks).
Re open plan offices: many people find them distracting. I doubt they’re a worthwhile cost-saving measure for research-focused orgs; better to have fewer researchers in an environment conducive to deep focus. I could maybe see a business case for them in large orgs where it might be worth sacrificing individual contributors’ focus in exchange for more legibility to management, or where management doesn’t trust workers to stay on task when no one is hovering over their shoulder, but I hope no alignment org is like that. For many people open plan offices are just great, of course, and I think it can be hard for them to grok how distracting they can be for people on the autism spectrum, to pick a not-so-random example. :) But I like the idea of looking for ways to increase efficiency!
It can definitely be worth spending money when there’s a clear case for it improving employee productivity. I will note there are a range of both norms and physical layouts compatible with open-plan, ranging from “everyone screaming at each other and in line of sight” trading floor to “no talking library vibes, desks facing walls with blinders”. We’ve tried to make different open plan spaces zoned with different norms and this has been fairly successful, although I’m sure some people will still be disturbed by even library-style areas and be more productive in a private office.
I’d thought it was a law of nature that quiet norms for open plans don’t actually work; it sounds like you’ve found a way to have your cake and eat it too!
This matches my impression. FAR could definitely use more funding. Although I’d still at the margin rather hire someone above our bar than e.g. have them earn-to-give and donate to us, the math is getting a lot closer than it used to be, to the point where those with excellent earning potential and limited fit for AI safety might well have more impact pursuing a philanthropic pathway.
I’d also highlight there’s a serious lack of diversity in funding. As others in the thread have mentioned, the majority of people’s funding comes (directly or indirectly) from OpenPhil. I think OpenPhil does a good job trying to mitigate this (e.g. being careful about power dynamics, giving organizations exit grants if they do decide to stop funding an org, etc) it’s ultimately not a healthy dynamic, and OpenPhil appears to be quite capacity constrained in terms of grant evaluation. So, the entry of new funders would help diversify this in addition to increasing total capacity.
One thing I don’t see people talk about as much but also seems like a key part of the solution: how can alignment orgs and researchers make more efficient use of existing funding? Spending that was appropriate a year or two ago when funding was plentiful may not be justified any longer, so there’s a need to explicitly put in place appropriate budgets and spending controls. There’s a fair amount of cost-saving measures I could see the ecosystem implementing that would have limited if any hit on productivity: for example, improved cash management (investing in government money market funds earning ~5% rather than 0% interest checking accounts); negotiating harder with vendors (often possible to get substantial discounts on things like cloud compute or commercial real-estate); and cutting back on some fringe benefits (e.g. more/higher-density open plan rather than private offices). I’m not trying to point fingers here: I’ve made missteps here as well, for example FAR’s cash management currently has significant room for improvement—we’re in the process of fixing this and plan to share a write-up of what we found with other orgs in the next month.
It’s easier than that—there are high-interest-rate free FDIC-eligible checking accounts. MaxMyInterest.com has a good list, although you might need to be a member to view it. As of this moment (2023-07-20), the top of their leaderboard is: Customers Bank (5.20% APY), BankProv (5.15%), BrioDirect (5.06%), UFB Direct (5.06%).
Thanks, that’s a good link. In our case our assets significantly exceed the FDIC $250k insurance limit and there are operational costs to splitting assets across a large number of banks. But a high-interest checking account could be a good option for many small orgs.
This isn’t strictly true: Some “banks” partner with many (real) banks to get greater FDIC coverage. E.g.: Wealthfront has up to $5M FDIC (so I imagine they partner with up to 20 accredited banks).
Re open plan offices: many people find them distracting. I doubt they’re a worthwhile cost-saving measure for research-focused orgs; better to have fewer researchers in an environment conducive to deep focus. I could maybe see a business case for them in large orgs where it might be worth sacrificing individual contributors’ focus in exchange for more legibility to management, or where management doesn’t trust workers to stay on task when no one is hovering over their shoulder, but I hope no alignment org is like that. For many people open plan offices are just great, of course, and I think it can be hard for them to grok how distracting they can be for people on the autism spectrum, to pick a not-so-random example. :) But I like the idea of looking for ways to increase efficiency!
It can definitely be worth spending money when there’s a clear case for it improving employee productivity. I will note there are a range of both norms and physical layouts compatible with open-plan, ranging from “everyone screaming at each other and in line of sight” trading floor to “no talking library vibes, desks facing walls with blinders”. We’ve tried to make different open plan spaces zoned with different norms and this has been fairly successful, although I’m sure some people will still be disturbed by even library-style areas and be more productive in a private office.
I’d thought it was a law of nature that quiet norms for open plans don’t actually work; it sounds like you’ve found a way to have your cake and eat it too!