The kinds of research we’re funding

Fundamentally, we want to fund the most ambitious proposals possible. We aim to fund large-scale RCTs or ambitious, creative pilots or program evaluations that expand our shared understanding of what shows promise and in which contexts, fill gaps where evidence is thin, and inspire new solutions. The fundable directions below lay out a set of possibilities, but we know that we have not come up with all the good ideas in this space. We welcome proposals that may not be captured below. AI could transform society faster than traditional research funding and publication cycles can keep pace with.

We’re looking to partner with research organizations that are willing to share what they’re learning publicly at key milestones because a signal that arrives early enough to act on can be worth more than an answer that arrives too late. We're especially interested in pilots that can be scaled up dramatically if they show promise. This is a global fund. The funding directions that we’ve outlined below are somewhat US-centric, in part because we’re headquartered in San Francisco, and Claude is used more in the US than any other country. But the need to prepare for disruption will be necessary worldwide, and we expect to fund projects in a way that reflects that.

We plan to primarily fund projects in the $5-30 million range, though we’re flexible upward for well-scoped, high-potential-impact projects. Based on what we learned from the Economic Futures program, and the ambition and scale we’re seeking in proposals, we won’t directly fund anything below $1 million from this fund. We’ll accept proposals from accredited universities and other degree-granting institutions, from independent research institutes and policy research organizations, and from nonprofits with a track record of running field experiments at scale.