Foresight Institute✓

Private personal AI. Reversing cellular age. Brain-computer interfaces. Universal fabricators. Funding human agency. New life on Mars. Whether AI can be conscious, and whether it matters. Nov 13-15, Vision Weekend returns to San Francisco! Three days of expert talks, curated 1-on-1s, tech demos, a $10K pitch grant, and our main 40th anniversary celebration in the US. Speakers include: • Wojciech Zaremba (OpenAI Foundation) • Matthew MacDougall (Neuralink) • Illia Polosukhin (NEAR Protocol) • Max Hodak (Science Corporation) • Matthew Botvinick (Anthropic) • Nan Ransohoff (Frontier Climate) • Séb Krier (Google DeepMind) • Seemay Chou (Astera Institute) • Robin Hanson (George Mason University) • Alex Gladstein (Human Rights Foundation) + many more. Full lineup in thread. Join us across iconic Bay Area locations, including Lighthaven, @internetarchive, USS Hornet aircraft carrier, and lab tours at @E11BIO, @LongshotSpace, @calwave_energy, @DolphinLabs, @ScienceCorp_ , plus a cypherpunk party at our AI node. Get tickets before prices increase Oct 1. Link in thread.

RT @eigenlabs: The next great research lab could be the internet. Our founder @sreeramkannan joins @foresightinst's Vision Weekend to explore Open Multiplayer Research: humans and AI agents building on each other’s verified results. Join us Nov 15 at Lighthaven, Berkeley.

Four days left to apply for our Request for Proposals. Up to $100K in grant funding, office space in SF and Berlin, community, and compute for open AI for science and safety projects. Three calls: • Local Compute • Coordination and Accountability • AI-first Science: Bio, Neuro, Nano Deadline: Oct 31. Apply: Links to each open call in thread.

Call II. Coordination and accountability Work that makes increasingly capable AI systems to coordinate better with each other, people, and the wider world:

III. AI-first science: Bio, Neuro, Nano AI-first approaches that identify a stuck problem in science, diagnose what’s blocking progress, and build what unblocks it:

Can AI help solve science’s hardest problems, and what is left for scientists to do? Two free events at CIC Berlin with the Claude Community, for researchers from PhD students to PIs: • Wed 4 Nov: Claude Conversation. Small-group discussions on where AI already helps research, where it fails, and what worries us. No technical background needed. Dinner and drinks provided. • Sat 7 Nov: Claude Impact Lab. A full-day build turning real open research problems into open-source AI research loops. Bring a problem from your own work. By application. Links in first reply.

Claude Conversation, Wed 4 Nov: Claude Impact Lab, Sat 7 Nov:

RT @HopeExistential: 1 week left to enter our $10,000 Meme Prize! Most pictures of the future are bleak: Black Mirror, p(doom), Ready Player One… Where are the good pictures? So we ask you to make one: imagine a positive future grounded in what’s possible with science and technology, turn it into something short and shareable (a meme, a short video, a thread), and enter by November 1st → Need inspiration? Check out last year’s winner and some of the finalists in the thread.

Open science needs open compute. That’s why we launched our AI Nodes in San Francisco and Berlin this year. Now we’re looking for a Program Manager for Compute to help run and grow this network. You’ll run our global compute program, manage inventory, procurement, vendors, and logistics so that grantees, fellows, and node communities get reliable compute on budget. Link with details in first reply.

Read more and apply:

Why we’re building an AI Node network, from our CEO @allisondman:

In less than a month, Vision Weekend returns to San Francisco. This time to mark 40 years of Foresight! Across iconic locations like the USS Hornet, @internetarchive, The Fold, and Lighthaven, the weekend brings expert talks, office hours with your favorite orgs, $10K pitch competition, behind-the-scenes lab tours, 1:1 connections, a sci-fi book swap, plus our main 40th anniversary celebration in the US. Full lineup: Secure, Sovereign & Resilient AI • @woj_zaremba, OpenAI Foundation • @ilblackdragon, NEAR Protocol • @sebkrier, Google DeepMind • Jenny Read, ARIA • @gladstein, Human Rights Foundation • @zweinberg, ex ante Neuro AI & AI for Neuro • @SumnerLN, Merge • Matt Angle, Paradromics • Matthew MacDougall, Neuralink • @maxhodak_, Science Corporation • @JoanneZPeng, Amaranth Foundation • @AdamMarblestone, Convergent Research Life Unlimited: Biotech & Biosecurity • @thekaransinghal, OpenAI • @mattkrisiloff, Conception bio • @hannu, Red Queen Bio • @velychko_s, Soxogen Bio Molecular Manufacturing, Nanotech, Energy & Space • Ralph C. Merkle, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing • Ivan Jayapurna, ARIA • @schingler, Planet Labs • @erika_alden_d, Pioneer Labs • @ltelkins, UC Berkeley - Space Sciences Lab New Funding & Innovation Paradigms • @tkalil2050, Renaissance Philanthropy • @FutureSaenko, Future Ventures • @v_maini, Mythos • @_mattmandel, Cosmos Ventures Nonprofit Funding Perspectives • @nanransohoff, Public Goods at Stripe • @rohan_subramani, Coefficient Giving • @seemaychou, Astera Institute Existential Hope • @mattbotvinick, Anthropic • @RosieCampbell, Eleos AI Research • @PracheeAC, Astera Institute • @sreeramkannan, Eigen Labs • @NicoleOzer, Electronic Frontier Foundation + an Anti-Debate hosted by @Liv_Boeree With the All Access pass, you’re invited to join speakers, sponsors, fellows, and grantees at exclusive gatherings across the Bay Area, including lab tours at @E11BIO, @LongshotSpace, @calwave_energy, @DolphinLabs, and @ScienceCorp_ , plus attend our 40th anniversary soiree. A limited number remain. Links in thread. Powered by: @protocollabs, @eigenlabs, @paradromics, @RetroBio_, FUTO, and @d_model_ai

@internetarchive Event page & tickets

What will it take to fund the future we want? Across philanthropy, venture, and new nonprofit models, the Funding tracks at Vision Weekend bring together the experts rethinking how transformative science and technology get resourced: • @nanransohoff, Public Goods at Stripe • @tkalil2050, Renaissance Philanthropy • @seemaychou, Astera Institute • @FutureSaenko, Future Ventures • @v_maini, Mythos • @_mattmandel, Cosmos Ventures • @rohan_subramani, Coefficient Giving November 13-15, San Francisco. Link in thread. Powered by @eigenlabs, @paradromics, @protocollabs, @RetroBio_ , FUTO, and @d_model_ai

Tickets

RT @HopeExistential: We see elections as the foundation of our democracy, but Aristotle thought they create an oligarchy. In ancient Athens, democracy worked by choosing leaders among ordinary citizens by lottery. How could we revive this idea to improve today’s democratic systems? In this episode, we speak with @JeremyRLent, tech CEO turned author, about the idea behind his new book Ecocivilization: how we can redesign our economy, democracy and technology so everyone can thrive. Links in the reply! 0:00 Cold open 1:00 How an internet CEO became an eco-civilization author 4:14 Is our civilization broken? 6:38 Has global capitalism really made life better for everyone? 9:11 What is ecocivilization? 13:52 Doughnut economics and citizens’ assemblies: rethinking the economy and democracy 20:24 How can technology help democracy? The Taiwan example 22:24 Is green growth possible? Planetary boundaries and Jevons paradox 30:03 Why is it so hard to change civilization? Lock-in and backcasting 37:01 How can we escape the AI race and multipolar traps? 42:43 How AI can be used to build a better world 49:45 What can young people do to make a difference? 51:34 Book and organization recommendations 53:35 The best advice Jeremy has ever received

A chemical rocket takes 75,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri, 4.24 light years away. @memcculloch argues a propellant-less drive based on a new theory of inertia could do it in 15. Tomorrow, Mike joins our seminar series to present Quantised Inertia: a theory that explains inertia using the quantum vacuum and the boundaries that form around accelerating objects. He will present the evidence of this theory and outline the design of an interstellar mission. October 15, 10am PT. Link to register:

Whole brain emulation in practice. Transcending biological limits. Implications of brain-computer interfaces and AGI for humanity and consciousness. Our Neuro AI track at upcoming Vision Weekend brings together the people working closest to where mind and machine meet. • @SumnerLN, @merge • Matt Angle, @paradromics • @maxhodak_ , @ScienceCorp_ • Matthew MacDougall, @neuralink • @JoanneZPeng, Amaranth Foundation • @AdamMarblestone @Convergent_FROs Nov 13-15 in San Francisco. Tickets in first reply. Powered by @protocollabs @paradromics @eigenlabs @RetroBio_ FUTO and @d_model_ai

The Neuro AI track is one of seven at Vision Weekend, alongside Secure & Sovereign AI, Life Unlimited, Nanotechnology, Energy, & Space, Existential Hope, and Non Profit and For Profit Funding. Tickets:

How can we live better in the AI-age? The Existential Hope track at Vision Weekend gathers thinkers exploring freedom, law, consciousness, open science, and collective decision-making: • @gladstein, @HRF • @RosieCampbell, @eleosai • @mattbotvinick, @AnthropicAI • @PracheeAC , @AsteraInstitute • @robinhanson , @GeorgeMasonU November 13-15, San Francisco. Link to tickets in thread. Powered by @eigenlabs @paradromics @protocollabs @RetroBio_ FUTO and @d_model_ai

Existential Hope is one of seven tracks at Vision Weekend, alongside Neuro AI, Life Unlimited, Nanotechnology, Energy, & Space, Secure & Sovereign AI, Non Profit and For Profit Funding. Tickets:

Resilient AI. Private personal AI. Digital rights, distributional AGI, and universal fabrication. Hear from the experts working to keep AI safe, open, and accountable at Vision Weekend USA: • Wojciech Zaremba @woj_zaremba (OpenAI Foundation) • Séb Krier @sebkrier (Google DeepMind) • Jenny Read, (ARIA) • Illia Polosukhin @ilblackdragon (NEAR Protocol) • Nicole Ozer @NicoleOzer (Electronic Frontier Foundation) November 13-15 | San Francisco. Link to tickets in thread. Prices increase on Oct 1. Powered by @EigenLabs @Paradromics @protocollabs @RetroBio_ @FUTO and @d_model_ai

Secure, Sovereign & Resilient AI is one of seven tracks at Vision Weekend, alongside Neuro AI, Life Unlimited, Nano, Energy, & Space, Existential Hope, and Non Profit and For Profit Funding. Tickets: