Cosmos Institute, Founded by Anthropic Co-Founder Jack Clark, Launches Grant Programs and AI Lab

The Cosmos Institute, a nonprofit whose founding members include Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark and former Department of Defense technologist Brendan McCord, has announced a program of investments and research initiatives that aim to, as the organization puts it, “develop a new generation of technologists and entrepreneurs equipped with the deep philosophy needed to navigate the uncharted territory of the AI ​​era.”

In a blog post, McCord, the Cosmos chairman, said the institute will establish an AI lab at the University of Oxford called the Human-Centered AI Lab, or “HAI Lab,” which will be led by Oxford philosopher Philipp Koralus — another of the institute’s founders — and will aim to “translate philosophical principles of human flourishing into open-source software and AI systems.”

What exactly does “translating the philosophical principles of human flourishing” mean? Unclear. But the gist is supporting the creation of AI technology that respects human dignity while avoiding promoting harmful disruptions (e.g., automation leading to job loss). A high and nebulous bar, to be sure—but one that HAI Lab will strive to meet.

The institute is also launching a fellowship — the Cosmos Fellowship — with a group of four initial fellows. Working at the HAI Lab or other partner institutions for “a semester to a year,” fellows will work with Cosmos mentors and pursue independent projects to “(explore) the intersection of AI expertise and deep philosophical insight,” McCord said.

The institute’s plans include an investment component that is starting in the form of a venture organization: Cosmos Ventures. Cosmos Ventures, led by former DeepMind product leader Jason Zhao, former Stripe corporate strategy chief Alex Komoroske, Darren Zhu and Zoe Weinberg, will support “provocative new prototypes, essays and creative projects that explore fundamental questions about the philosophy of technology,” McCord said.

McCord describes Cosmos Ventures as “low-overhead,” modeled on Institute fellow Tyler Cowen’s Emergent Ventures. Investments will range from $1,000 to $10,000 per project, and projects—which can be new or existing—must produce a “major deliverable” within three months.

The first group has already received funding, McCord said.

The Cosmos Institute isn’t the first to try to promote a more ethical, humanistic vision of AI. OpenAI, founded with the mission of bringing the benefits of advanced AI to all of humanity, has dismantled entire security teams. Clark’s Anthropic once positioned itself as a safer, more ethical provider, but in recent months has defied AI regulation and aggressively collected data without permission.

Perhaps the Cosmos Institute would fare better if it embraced what McCord calls “accelerationism”: the idea that the future is not predetermined and that humanity therefore bears responsibility for what awaits it.

“We must build AI that encourages inquiry rather than complacency and promotes active engagement rather than passive dependence, especially in education, medicine, public spaces, and other important domains,” McCord writes. “We champion AI that decentralizes power and enables bottom-up solutions, allowing individuals and communities to co-create a richer, more diverse society.”

These are admirable positions. This reporter just hopes that money, influence, and power won’t make the temptation to abandon them irresistible.