Our Mission
The Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI) is a research and advocacy non-profit dedicated to seeking political solutions to potential catastrophic risks from emerging AI technology. We work with journalists, lawmakers, researchers and other AI safety organizations to identify and advocate for government policies to mitigate advanced AI’s most extreme risks. We believe that proactive government regulation can significantly reduce the destabilizing effects from AI.
Public Opinion Tracking
Effective AI policy must reflect the will of the people. Through collaborations with leading polling firms, we regularly poll US voters to assess the level of public concern, understand voters’ response to events in the news, and monitor support for various policy proposals. As policymakers are political actors, demonstration of voter support is essential to building the political will for regulation.
Policy Research
AIPI conducts extensive research into the potential threats, regulatory gaps, and policy interventions associated with advanced AI. Our findings are published in comprehensive reports and policy proposals, offering in-depth analysis to guide policy recommendations. We ensure that our research is accessible to lawmakers, researchers, and the general public for informed decision-making.
Media and Policymaker Engagement
We work to bridge the information gap between the AI community and those who influence public opinion and policy. We work closely with government officials, journalists and AI technologists, providing the resources necessary to understand AI technology, the state of public opinion and the range of policy proposals available. By facilitating well-informed decisions and discussions on AI, we strive to create an environment where technological advancements and public welfare go together.
Our Team
Daniel Colson
Executive Director
Daniel Colson is the co-founder and executive director of the AI Policy Institute. AIPI is a think tank that researches and advocates for government policies to mitigate extreme risks from frontier AI technologies. Daniel’s research focuses on how autonomous weapons systems will impact military strategy and global political stability. Prior to AIPI, Daniel co-founded Reserve in 2017, a company focused on offering financial services in high inflation currency regions lacking basic financial infrastructure. In 2020, Daniel founded CampusPA, an executive assistant recruiting company. Daniel has also spent time working as a researcher on theories of macro-history and helped Samo Burja write his seminal manuscript on sociology, Great Founder Theory.
Our Advisors
Doug Solomon is a senior executive in the intersection of technology, law, and business, with over three decades of legal executive experience. He served as General Counsel at Netsuite from 2006 to 2017, leading their successful IPO and eventual acquisition by Oracle for $9.4 billion. With his role at Netsuite and later as Chief Legal Officer of RMS Moody’s, Doug has been a key figure in technology law and cloud computing regulatory issues.
Samuel Hammond is Senior Economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, where his research focuses on innovation and science policy and the institutional impact of disruptive technologies. He previously worked as the director of social policy for the Niskanen Center, where he remains a senior fellow; as an economist for the Government of Canada specializing in regional economic development; and as a graduate research fellow for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.Hammond has received a B.A. in Economics from Saint Mary’s University and M.A.’s in Economics from George Mason University and Carleton University.
Nik Samoylov is a market and social researcher. He is the founder of Conjointly, the market research platform for product and pricing research and testing marketing assets. Nik is also a coordinator of the Campaign for AI Safety. He worked as a consultant at Bain & Co and studied marketing at the Australian National University.
Samo Burja is a sociologist and the founder of Bismarck Analysis, a firm that analyzes institutions, from governments to companies. Samo is also a research fellow at the Long Now Foundation and the Foresight Institute. His research focuses on the causes of societal decay and flourishing. He writes on history, epistemology and strategy.
Andrew Masanto is a serial entrepreneur and Web3 pioneer, having co-founded two top 100 cryptocurrencies, Reserve and Hedera Hashgraph, and launched NFT.com and Nillion. His ventures span multiple sectors, including a leading marketing agency, Higher Click, and Petlab Co, acclaimed as the fastest-growing pet company in the USA by Entrepreneur Magazine. Masanto has achieved a collective market cap of $35 billion across his enterprises.
Nevin Freeman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Reserve, a financial services company focused on offering access to stably-valued financial assets to individuals from high-inflation regions. Nevin is a successful serial entrepreneur who also co-founded the companies Paradigm Academy, MetaMed Research and RIABiz. Nevin has been involved in the AI safety advocacy space since the late 2000s.
Aditya Tiwathia is a seasoned leader in humanitarian project development with over a decade of experience leading arms disarmament projects across conflict regions including Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Palestine working with the United Nations. Aditya has deep expertise in the humanitarian impacts of novel weapons systems and the role of international law in mitigating humanitarian consequences of war.
Vasant Ramachandran is head of Technology at Daric Inc, which helps leading financial institutions and government agencies, including the World Bank, regulate AI-based decision making when screening financial transactions by embedding explainability and conclusion traceability in every application. Vasant’s perspective on the potential of emergent technology and the pitfalls of unchecked AI use is informed by his years of experience designing ways to leverage AI as guidance while curtailing its decision-making agency. He holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Trisha Kothari is the CEO and co-founder at Unit21, a Series B financial security and data infrastructure company used by leading companies like Twitter and Intuit to fight financial crime. Unit21 has raised close to $100 million from leading investors including Google and Tiger Global. Unit21 is a leader in the application of AI technology to law enforcement.
