(1) Policy development for Sapiens First (2) Fundraising machine for politics

The projects outlined below are currently on deck for my org. However, given that Sapiens First is early-stage, priorities change frequently, so it's possible that different projects will be relevant by late-August. 

Policy development for Sapiens First

Sapiens First's immediate goals are for the California state governor to declare an AI crisis, democratize AI through Citizens' Assemblies, and govern AI like an existential threat. This project would mean fleshing out these asks into a policy paper that specifically outlines ideal legislation, assuming full control of the California state government. Such policies would probably include a 3rd party regulator on frontier AI; mandatory insurance; increased funding to AI safety research; calling on the Federal government to enact arms control agreements with foreign powers. For Citizens Assemblies, we'd want to explore the best method of implementing Citizens Assemblies for near-term AI issues. Ideally, this white paper is something that we could hand to a state legislator or the CA governor and made into law. Additionally, you could write up a layman's explanation of this white paper for a general audience. Extension: It's possible that Rohan will do some MVP version of this project himself before August 27. If that's the case, an extension could be: create a more incremental policy proposal, based on existing legislation. Also, interested in exploring legal impact strategies, for example submitting FOIA requests or suing the government for inaction on the AI crisis.

Fundraising machine for politics

Funding for lobbying / electoral politics (ie. 501(c)(4) funding) is a huge bottle-neck to high-impact work in the AI safety space. AI safety funders have largely stayed clear from political giving. However, there are many non-EA people who give to politics, including tech/AI-related issues. Also, more money might be entering the space soon. How can we access existing mega-donors and get them interested in supporting longtermist causes? This project has 3 parts:

1. Making the case for political advocacy. Write up a post about all the things that political advocacy can get done, eg. different types of orgs that could be started, the impact that it could have, and how it's important to have more of it in the ecosystem.
2. Identifying mega-donors. Who are the anti-tech, pro-regulation mega-donors? How can we get in contact with them?
3. Reaching out to a few and engaging in a conversation to learn about their giving preferences.