Machine Intelligence Research Institute

Machine Intelligence Research Institute

Advances AI alignment theory and research

Overview

MIRI studies artificial intelligence with a focus on safety and alignment, researching long-term challenges as AI becomes more capable. It conducts technical research and philosophical analysis to develop theories, frameworks, and safety concepts rather than building consumer products. It emphasizes foundational, long-term safety theory rather than short-term applications and commercial products. Its goal is to help humanity prepare for coexistence with highly capable AI by clarifying alignment and guiding how future AI systems should be designed and governed.

About Machine Intelligence Research Institute

Simplify's Rating
Why Machine Intelligence Research Institute is rated
B-
Rated B on Competitive Edge
Rated B on Growth Potential
Rated C on Differentiation

Industries

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Grant

Total Funding

$4.6M

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Founded

2000

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Dustin Moskovitz gave MIRI $10M in 2026, validating the thesis and runway.
  • The June 2026 Closing Window paper and ICML TAIGR presentation raised visibility.
  • MIRI’s newsletter audience expanded, and its communications team tripled by March 2026.

What critics are saying

  • MIRI depends on donors; 2025 fundraising reached only $3.4M by April 2026.
  • Its shutdown-and-surveillance agenda alienates policymakers and AI labs, shrinking coalition support.
  • If frontier AI accelerates faster than its policy wins, MIRI becomes irrelevant.

What makes Machine Intelligence Research Institute unique

  • MIRI’s Technical Governance Team published The Closing Window on June 25, 2026.
  • Nate Soares and Eliezer Yudkowsky frame superintelligence as a civilization-scale emergency.
  • MIRI blends research, policy, and communications, with staff growing from 5 to 13.

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Funding

Total Funding

$4.5M

Above

Industry Average

Funded Over

3 Rounds

Grant funding comparison data is currently unavailable. We're working to provide this information soon!
Grant Funding Comparison
Coming Soon

Benefits

Health Insurance

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Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-2%

1 year growth

-6%

2 year growth

-8%
Forbes
Dec 7th, 2022
If We Don’T End Factory Farming Soon, It Might Be Here Forever.

In one version of the future, we will look back in horror at how we raised animals for food and are ... [+] grateful for our generation who turned the tide. But in another, we will be eating and exploiting animals just like we do today. And potentially for millions of years to come. getty. Do you know what the most popular book is? No, it’s not Harry Potter. But it does talk about spells. It’s the Bible, and it has been for centuries. In the past 50 years alone, the Bible has sold over 3.9 billion copies. And the second best-selling book? The Quran, at 800 million copies

VentureBeat
Sep 5th, 2022
Dumb AI is a bigger risk than strong AI

AI is very promising, but we need to make it simple to ensure it's truly smart every step of the way to avoid real risk and even catastrophe.

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