Best way to find out is to ask the LWer Vika, who I’m pretty sure was the driving force (Max Tegmark probably had something to do with it too). I think their niche is to be a more celebrity-centered face of existential risk reduction (compared to FHI), but they’ve also made some moves to try to be a host of discussions, and this grant really means that now they have to play funding agency.
I’m flattered, but I have to say that Max was the driving force here. The real reason FLI got started was that Max finished his book in the beginning of 2014, and didn’t want to give that extra time back to his grad students ;).
MIRI / FHI / CSER are research organizations that have full-time research and admin staff. FLI is more of an outreach and meta-research organization, and is largely volunteer-run. We think of ourselves as sister organizations, and coordinate a fair bit. Most of the FLI founders are CFAR alumni, and many of the volunteers are LWers.
Best way to find out is to ask the LWer Vika, who I’m pretty sure was the driving force (Max Tegmark probably had something to do with it too). I think their niche is to be a more celebrity-centered face of existential risk reduction (compared to FHI), but they’ve also made some moves to try to be a host of discussions, and this grant really means that now they have to play funding agency.
I’m flattered, but I have to say that Max was the driving force here. The real reason FLI got started was that Max finished his book in the beginning of 2014, and didn’t want to give that extra time back to his grad students ;).
MIRI / FHI / CSER are research organizations that have full-time research and admin staff. FLI is more of an outreach and meta-research organization, and is largely volunteer-run. We think of ourselves as sister organizations, and coordinate a fair bit. Most of the FLI founders are CFAR alumni, and many of the volunteers are LWers.