How Effective Altruism Bought the Media
AI Doomers are Funding Circular Potemkin Articles
The fight for control of the AI narrative has reached egregious new heights. An Effort investigation uncovered Potemkin articles, in which claims are fabricated, corroborated, and published as journalism by members of an insular donor ecosystem. To understand how this works, follow us through this Guardian article. Of its 6 participants — including the journalist and publisher — 6/6 are paid for by three megadonors.
The publisher
The Guardian
$3,000,000+
The reporter
Aisha Down
$60K–$110K
Quoted 'Expert'
Malcolm Murray
$129,376 + $47.1M to affiliated institutions
Quoted 'Expert'
Henry Papadatos
$620,000
The subject
Daniel Kokotajlo
$2,851,166
Quoted 'Expert'
Andrea Castagna
$30,000 + 2 undisclosed grants
Coefficient Giving pays the salary of the journalist through the Tarbell Fellowship. It pays the publisher, the Guardian, more than $3M. AI 2027, the subject of the article, was given $400K from Coefficient, in addition to $2M from SFF. The three other pseudo-experts quoted in the article are all paid by SFF, Coefficient, or Effective Ventures Foundation.1
The Guardian does not disclose that it is funded by Coefficient or that the journalist is entirely paid for by Tarbell. In a fundraising statement attached to the article, the Guardian proclaims its “fierce independence.”
Down declares her fellow Coefficient funding recipients “experts” without justification. She proclaims Kokotajlo “a leading artificial intelligence expert” without any specific record or achievement. Kokotajlo and the other authors of AI 2027 and AI 2040 already admitted their predictions were off by years, if not decades.
All six belong to a circular ecosystem known as “AI Safety,” united around the belief that AI will end the human race.2 What Down promotes as ‘expertise’ is not merely unrigorous or exaggerated — it is a work of cultlike fiction which openly promotes their vision of the AI apocalypse. This belief underwrites millions spent annually on promoting a firehose of anti-AI narratives with the goal of banning AI outright — the price of preventing the apocalypse.
This ecosystem is bankrolled by three megadonors — Dustin Moskovitz’s Open Philanthropy, Sam Bankman-Fried’s Center for Effective Altruism (CEA), and Jaan Tallinn’s Survival and Flourishing Fund. The media arm of this empire has over $40 million in donations and includes paid journalists, influencers, and religious groups.
The Center for Effective Altruism ran into a major roadblock after its primary donor, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested and convicted in 2023 for fraud. It later rebranded to Effective Ventures Foundation.
After Bankman-Fried’s arrest, Open Philanthropy began to distance themselves from the Effective Altruism movement. It later rebranded to Coefficient Giving. “Our mission remains the same,” their official statement assures.
Coefficient pays the salaries of two dozen journalists at major news outlets through the Tarbell Fellowship program.
Tarbell Placements
The largest Coefficient-funded outlet, TIME, recently drew criticism for prioritizing anti-AI activists over Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, the most valuable public company in the world. What few of those critics know is that the outright majority of TIME 100 profiles — 58/100 — are written by Tarbell-paid journalists.
AI Doom content on major YouTube channels is also overwhelmingly sponsored.4 Leaked emails also show “AI Safety” organizations covertly sponsor anti-AI content on a variety of anti-AI issue areas, possibly in violation of the FCC’s advertising disclosure regulations.
- Open Philanthropy / Good Ventures funds Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: $5,833,224 known; 2 documented records; 2021, 2022.
- Open Philanthropy / Good Ventures funds Rational Animations: $2,495,355 known; 2 documented records; 2023, 2024.
- Open Philanthropy / Good Ventures funds The Flares: $50,000 known; 1 documented record; 2022.
- EA Infrastructure Fund funds Rational Animations: $30,000 known; 1 documented record; 2021.
- EA Infrastructure Fund funds Primer: $300,000 known; 1 documented record; 2022.
- EA Infrastructure Fund funds A Happier World: $147,000 known; 3 documented records; 2021, 2022.
- EA Infrastructure Fund funds Space Science Guy: $23,660 known; 1 documented record; 2024.
- EA Infrastructure Fund funds Martin Skadal: $1,000 known; 1 documented record; 2022.
- Future of Life Institute funds The Flares: $6,000 known; 1 documented record; 2026.
- Future of Life Institute funds Future Tense: amount undisclosed; 1 documented record; 2026.
- Future of Life Institute funds SciencePetr: $35,000 known; 1 documented record; 2026.
- Long-Term Future Fund funds Robert Miles AI Safety: $452,575 known; 5 documented records; 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025.
- Long-Term Future Fund funds Suboptimal IA: $24,800 known; 1 documented record; 2022.
- Manifund donors fund A Happier World: $2,790 known; 1 documented record; 2022.
- Manifund donors fund SciencePetr: $13,300 known; 1 documented record; 2026.
- Manifund donors fund The Inside View: $29,700 known; 1 documented record; 2025.
- BlueDot Impact funds SciencePetr: $120,000 known; 1 documented record; 2026.
- Center for AI Safety funds Hey AI: amount undisclosed; 1 documented record; 2026.
- Center for AI Safety funds Mikey Posada: amount undisclosed; 1 documented record; 2026.
Sponsorships aren’t without tradeoffs for paid influencers. The largest sponsored videos dramatically underperform unsponsored content.
Diminishing Returns on AI Content
The AI discussion continues to be flooded with speculation, conspiracy theories, and falsehoods. While part of that can be attributed to the modern condition, the degree of coordinated, circular influence has reached new levels with AI.
Footnotes
1 Henry Papadatos is executive director of SaferAI, which received $509,000 in standard Survival and Flourishing Fund support and a further $111,000 conditional match. Malcolm Murray received $129,376 in risk-management contractor compensation from Effective Ventures Foundation USA. Center for Effective Altruism rebranded to Effective Ventures Foundation after its primary funder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested for fraud. The EA Funds institutional description identifies EA Funds as an Effective Ventures project; the Centre for Effective Altruism is another organization in the Effective Ventures network. Andrea Castagna’s employer, the Centre for Future Generations, received a $30,000 ACX Grants award through Manifund. The Guardian article used public statements from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; the journalist did not directly interview Altman for the article. ↩
| Grantee | From | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SaferAI | Survival and Flourishing Fund / Jaan Tallinn | $214,000 | SFF 2022-H2 |
| SaferAI | Survival and Flourishing Fund / Jaan Tallinn | $95,000 | SFF 2024 |
| SaferAI | Survival and Flourishing Fund / Jaan Tallinn | $200,000 | SFF 2025 |
| SaferAI | Survival and Flourishing Fund / Jaan Tallinn | $111,000 conditional match | SFF 2025 |
| Malcolm Murray | Effective Ventures Foundation USA | $129,376 | 2025 Form 990 |
| Stichting Centre for Future Generations | ACX Grants | $30,000 | Manifund record |
2 Sources: AI Panic and the Statement on AI Risk. ↩
3
| Improve the News Foundation | Future of Life Institute | $3,250,000.00 | |
| Kurzgesagt | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $2,978,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $2,888,000.00 | |
| Kurzgesagt | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $2,855,224.00 | |
| Should We Studio | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $2,320,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $1,587,930.00 | |
| Rational Animations | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $1,495,355.00 | |
| EA-related translation projects | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $1,381,462.00 | |
| Asterisk | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $1,134,769.00 | |
| Rational Animations | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $1,000,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $999,000.00 | |
| Asterisk | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $937,228.00 | |
| Effective Ideas Blog Prize | FTX Future Fund (2022, now defunct) | $900,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $816,000.00 | |
| Asterisk | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $730,000.00 | |
| HitRecord | Survival and Flourishing Fund | $700,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Survival and Flourishing Fund | $583,000.00 | |
| AI Digest (Sage Future) | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $550,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Survival and Flourishing Fund | $520,000.00 | |
| Common Sense Media | Future of Life Institute | $500,000.00 | |
| Economic Security Project Inc. | Future of Life Institute | $500,000.00 | |
| Ekō | Future of Life Institute | $500,000.00 | |
| Palisade Research | Future of Life Institute | $500,000.00 | |
| Stichting PauseAI | Future of Life Institute | $500,000.00 | |
| HitRecord | Survival and Flourishing Fund | $500,000.00 | |
| Young People’s Alliance Education Fund | Future of Life Institute | $498,114.00 | |
| The Bureau of Investigative Journalism | Future of Life Institute | $487,000.00 | |
| Institute for Security and Technology | Future of Life Institute | $484,050.00 | |
| CalMatters (with The Markup) | Future of Life Institute | $350,000.00 | |
| Blueprint for Free Speech | Future of Life Institute | $345,000.00 | |
| Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | Future of Life Institute | $315,975.00 | |
| Primer | EA Infrastructure Fund | $300,000.00 | |
| National Association of Voice Actors | Future of Life Institute | $300,000.00 | |
| Brian Christian (author) | FTX Future Fund (2022, now defunct) | $300,000.00 | |
| AI Safety Communications Centre | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $288,000.00 | |
| Frame Fellowship | AI Safety Tactical Opportunities Fund | $280,000.00 | |
| AI Narrative Project (Romain Vakilitabar) | Future of Life Institute | $250,000.00 | |
| Building an Infrastructure to Create High-Impact Narratives | AI Safety Tactical Opportunities Fund | $250,000.00 | |
| Center for AI Safety | Manifund donors | $250,000.00 | |
| Should We Studio | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $245,000.00 | |
| Latecomer Institute | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $234,000.00 | |
| AI Objectives Institute | Future of Life Institute | $206,000.00 | |
| Making God | Manifund donors | $205,094.00 | |
| Impact Academy | Future of Life Institute | $201,105.00 | |
| PauseAI US | Future of Life Institute | $200,000.00 | |
| Gospel Coalition | Future of Life Institute | $200,000.00 | |
| James Lin | FTX Future Fund (2022, now defunct) | $190,000.00 | |
| Faith Matters | Future of Life Institute | $174,000.00 | |
| University of Southern California (Hollywood, Health & Society) | Future of Life Institute | $170,000.00 | |
| Rob Miles AI Safety | Long-Term Future Fund | $150,000.00 | |
| International Nuclear Heuristics Research | Future of Life Institute | $150,000.00 | |
| Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | Future of Life Institute | $150,000.00 | |
| MOUATANA | Future of Life Institute | $128,970.00 | |
| Intelligence Rising | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $127,070.00 | |
| Faith Matters | Future of Life Institute | $125,000.00 | |
| Rob Miles AI Safety | Long-Term Future Fund | $121,575.00 | |
| SciencePetr | BlueDot Impact | $120,000.00 | |
| WirklichGut | EA Infrastructure Fund | $107,607.00 | |
| Rethink Priorities | EA Infrastructure Fund | $106,653.00 | |
| Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America | Future of Life Institute | $105,000.00 | |
| University of Ljubljana | Future of Life Institute | $100,050.00 | |
| Lone Pine Games, LLC | Long-Term Future Fund | $100,000.00 | |
| Evitable | Future of Life Institute | $100,000.00 | |
| New Polity | Future of Life Institute | $100,000.00 | |
| Sinai and Synapses | Future of Life Institute | $100,000.00 | |
| The World Council of Churches | Future of Life Institute | $100,000.00 | |
| Lauren Gilbert | EA Infrastructure Fund | $100,000.00 | |
| Petr Salaba (fiscally sponsored by Epistea) | Manifund donors | $100,000.00 | |
| RadicalxChange Foundation — Honor Society Films, Audrey Tang Project | Founders Pledge GCR Fund | $100,000.00 | |
| Centre for Long-Term Resilience | Founders Pledge GCR Fund | $100,000.00 | |
| Intelligence Rising | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $92,597.00 | |
| ILINA Project | Future of Life Institute | $90,671.00 | |
| Rob Miles AI Safety | Long-Term Future Fund | $82,000.00 | |
| Robert de Neufville | EA Infrastructure Fund | $80,000.00 | |
| Nicky Case | Long-Term Future Fund | $80,000.00 | |
| A Happier World | EA Infrastructure Fund | $63,000.00 | |
| Rob Miles AI Safety | Long-Term Future Fund | $60,000.00 | |
| A Happier World | EA Infrastructure Fund | $60,000.00 | |
| Anonymous | Long-Term Future Fund | $60,000.00 | |
| Mindstream Project Ltd. | Future of Life Institute | $60,000.00 | |
| Rethink Priorities | EA Infrastructure Fund | $57,238.00 | |
| American Shield | Future of Life Institute | $56,980.00 | |
| Wheaton College | Future of Life Institute | $55,000.00 | |
| AISafety.info | Long-Term Future Fund | $54,962.00 | |
| Gus Docker | EA Infrastructure Fund | $54,000.00 | |
| Doom Debates (Liron Shapira) | Manifund donors | $53,370.00 | |
| Robert de Neufville | EA Infrastructure Fund | $50,000.00 | |
| The Flares | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | $50,000.00 | |
| Facta est Lux | Future of Life Institute | $50,000.00 | |
| IBA Karachi | Future of Life Institute | $50,000.00 | |
| Lausanne Movement | Future of Life Institute | $50,000.00 | |
| Mordechai Rorvig | Long-Term Future Fund | $50,000.00 | |
| Pathos Labs (PopShift) | FTX Future Fund (2022, now defunct) | $50,000.00 | |
| Project Imago Dei | Future of Life Institute | $47,500.00 | |
| Daniel Filan | Long-Term Future Fund | $44,802.00 | |
| AI Futures Project / AI 2027 team (Jonas Vollmer) | Manifund donors | $44,022.00 | |
| Anonymous | Animal Welfare Fund | $40,000.00 | |
| Christians for Impact (JD Bauman) | ACX Grants | $40,000.00 | |
| Rob Miles AI Safety | Long-Term Future Fund | $39,000.00 | |
| Hear This Idea | EA Infrastructure Fund | $38,200.00 | |
| ChinaTalk (Jordan Schneider) | Manifund donors | $37,567.00 | |
| Hear This Idea | EA Infrastructure Fund | $35,327.50 | |
| SciencePetr | Future of Life Institute | $35,000.00 | |
| José Jaime Villalobos Ruiz | Long-Term Future Fund | $33,700.00 | |
| Rational Animations | EA Infrastructure Fund | $30,000.00 | |
| Andrew Jillions | Survival and Flourishing Fund | $30,000.00 | |
| The Inside View | Manifund donors | $29,700.00 | |
| David Williams-King | Long-Term Future Fund | $27,000.00 | |
| Rachel Shu | EA Infrastructure Fund | $25,000.00 | |
| Luisa Gullino | EA Infrastructure Fund | $25,000.00 | |
| Suzy Shepherd | Long-Term Future Fund | $25,000.00 | |
| Gabriel Sherman | Manifund donors | $25,000.00 | |
| Suboptimal IA | Long-Term Future Fund | $24,800.00 | |
| Michael Dello-Iacovo | EA Infrastructure Fund | $23,660.00 | |
| CeSIA | Manifund donors | $21,309.00 | |
| Dads Against AGI Inc. / For Humanity: An AI Risk Podcast (John Sherman) | Manifund donors | $20,181.00 | |
| Frame Fellowship | Jaan Tallinn DAF | $20,000.00 | |
| Suzy Shepherd | Future of Life Institute | $20,000.00 | |
| Justin Kuiper | Manifund donors | $20,000.00 | |
| WirklichGut | EA Infrastructure Fund | $18,180.00 | |
| Nicholas Whitaker | Long-Term Future Fund | $18,000.00 | |
| Pablo Stafforini | Long-Term Future Fund | $17,000.00 | |
| Anonymous | EA Infrastructure Fund | $14,000.00 | |
| SciencePetr | Manifund donors | $13,300.00 | |
| Suzy Shepherd | EA Infrastructure Fund | $11,041.00 | |
| Suzy Shepherd | Manifund donors | $10,000.00 | |
| Effct (6-member team) | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Dr Waku | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Zeaus Koh and Nainika Gupta | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Karl von Wendt | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Marcus Eriksen, Vanessa Morrow and Alberto Hidalgo | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Vin Sixsmith and Renzo Stadhouder | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Nick Shapiro | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Vaibhav Jain | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Radina Kraeva | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| Beatrice Malfa and Paolo Tognozzi | Future of Life Institute | $10,000.00 | |
| William Lee | Frame Fellowship (regrantor) | $10,000.00 | |
| Ernestine Siu | Frame Fellowship (regrantor) | $10,000.00 | |
| Aaron Nev | Frame Fellowship (regrantor) | $10,000.00 | |
| Strad Slater | Frame Fellowship (regrantor) | $10,000.00 | |
| Stuart Harmon | Frame Fellowship (regrantor) | $10,000.00 | |
| Reuben Adams | Frame Fellowship (regrantor) | $10,000.00 | |
| Effective Altruism for Christians (Dominic Roser and David Lawrence) | EA Infrastructure Fund | $10,000.00 | |
| Concept Art Advocates — Creative Rights Coalition | Jaan Tallinn (personal ledger) | $10,000.00 | |
| Vox Media | Founders Pledge GCR Fund | $10,000.00 | |
| Anatole Chouard | BlueDot Impact | $9,800.00 | |
| Elizabeth Van Nostrand | EA Infrastructure Fund | $9,750.00 | |
| Discussing Effectiveness | EA Infrastructure Fund | $8,472.00 | |
| Liam Carroll | Long-Term Future Fund | $8,000.00 | |
| Lilly Bergner | EA Infrastructure Fund | $7,716.00 | |
| Sam Glover | Manifund donors | $7,700.00 | |
| How I Learned to Love Shrimp | EA Infrastructure Fund | $7,227.00 | |
| Suzy Shepherd | Long-Term Future Fund | $6,466.00 | |
| Hear This Idea | EA Infrastructure Fund | $6,196.87 | |
| The Flares | Future of Life Institute | $6,000.00 | |
| Kali Richards | EA Infrastructure Fund | $5,460.00 | |
| Rachel Shu | EA Infrastructure Fund | $5,000.00 | |
| Anonymous | EA Infrastructure Fund | $5,000.00 | |
| Michel Justen | Long-Term Future Fund | $5,000.00 | |
| Consistently Candid | Long-Term Future Fund | $5,000.00 | |
| Oluwaseyi Oso and Oluwaseun Oso | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Jacob Bauer | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Daniela Alvarez Robledo, Maria Fernanda Colorado Rodriguez and Octavio Armando Vera Tijerina | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Kody Beaudoin | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Ali Khan | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Tam Tsz Shan and Iris | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Rory McMahon | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Aron Mill | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Samuel Mowaiye | Future of Life Institute | $5,000.00 | |
| Open Immanence Society (Jessica Ocean), with St Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church | Manifund donors | $5,000.00 | |
| Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | Founders Pledge GCR Fund | $5,000.00 | |
| Chris Lakin | Long-Term Future Fund | $4,500.00 | |
| André Ferretti | EA Infrastructure Fund | $4,000.00 | |
| Piotr Kedziora | BlueDot Impact | $4,000.00 | |
| Melissa Lopez — Aperture Salon | BlueDot Impact | $3,000.00 | |
| A Happier World | Manifund donors | $2,790.00 | |
| Anonymous | EA Infrastructure Fund | $2,600.00 | |
| Troy Bradley | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Finn Metz | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Aulia Ardista Wiradarmo | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Mark Keavney | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Szilard Gerely, Milan Keleti and Adam Farkas | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Kevin Cao | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Robert Schaaf | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Svenia Busson | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Mykala Hayes | Future of Life Institute | $2,500.00 | |
| Brian T. Edwards | Manifund donors | $2,500.00 | |
| Marc-Everin Carauleanu | Long-Term Future Fund | $2,491.00 | |
| Tom Bibby | Manifund donors | $2,100.00 | |
| Alex Khurgin — "Good for Humans" | Manifund donors | $2,000.00 | |
| Aaron Maiwald | EA Infrastructure Fund | $1,787.00 | |
| Grace Reuben — The AI Girls Club | BlueDot Impact | $1,600.00 | |
| Marisa Vogiatzi | Manifund donors | $1,246.00 | |
| Martin Skadal | EA Infrastructure Fund | $1,000.00 | |
| Damien Laird | Manifund donors | $1,000.00 | |
| Lucas Kohorst — Adjacent News | Manifund donors | $1,000.00 | |
| Clement Ngu / Young China Watchers | BlueDot Impact | $1,000.00 | |
| Isaac King | Manifund donors | $834.00 | |
| Gaurav Yadav | Manifund donors | $732.00 | |
| Feifan Liu | BlueDot Impact | $500.00 | |
| Jacob Cohen | Manifund donors | $267.00 | |
| SciShow | ControlAI | Undisclosed | |
| Rational Animations | ControlAI | Undisclosed | |
| Siliconversations | ControlAI | Undisclosed | |
| Explainable / five creators | Center for AI Safety | Undisclosed | |
| Neural Guide | Center for AI Safety | Undisclosed | |
| Aperture | Center for AI Safety | Undisclosed | |
| What If / Underknown | Center for AI Safety | Undisclosed | |
| Hey AI | Center for AI Safety | Undisclosed | |
| Mikey Posada | Center for AI Safety | Undisclosed | |
| Frame Fellowship | AI Safety Tactical Opportunities Fund | Undisclosed | |
| AI in Context (80,000 Hours) | Coefficient Giving (Open Philanthropy) | Undisclosed | |
| Future Tense | Future of Life Institute | Undisclosed | |
| Mako Yass | Future of Life Institute | Undisclosed |
4 Creator-channel funding and engagement comparison. ↩
| Kurzgesagt | $5.83M | 12.87M | 11.25M(-12.6%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primer | $300K | 4.36M | 472K(-89.2%) |
| The Flares | $56K | 22.3K | 16.2K(-27.5%) |
| Space Science Guy | $23.7K | 2.4K | 1.7K(-29%) |
| Mikey Posada | Undisclosed | 105.7K | 24.6K(-76.7%) |