Resource guide

Future of Life Institute: AI Safety and the Pause Letter

How Max Tegmark's nonprofit went from a small MIT panel to the group behind the world's most famous AI pause letter.

Last updated July 12, 2026 1382-word guide Editor Ban the Bots

Key takeaways

The Future of Life Institute is a nonprofit founded in March 2014 that works to steer transformative technology away from large-scale risks, according to its official site futureoflife.org.
FLI was founded by MIT physicist Max Tegmark, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, DeepMind researcher Viktoriya Krakovna, scholar Meia Chita-Tegmark, and physicist Anthony Aguirre, per Wikipedia and FLI.
Max Tegmark is an MIT physics professor, FLI's president, and the author of the 2017 book "Life 3.0," which reached the New York Times bestseller list, according to his Wikipedia page.
FLI organized the January 2017 Asilomar conference that produced the 23 Asilomar AI Principles, signed by 1,797 AI and robotics researchers, according to the Future of Life Institute.
FLI published the "Pause Giant AI Experiments" open letter on March 29, 2023, which gathered more than 30,000 signatures, according to the Future of Life Institute.
FLI's research program began in 2015 with a $10 million donation from Elon Musk, and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin later donated crypto worth roughly $665 million, according to Wikipedia.
FLI runs the Future of Life Award, a $50,000 prize funded by Jaan Tallinn that has honored figures like Stanislav Petrov and Vasili Arkhipov, according to the Future of Life Institute.

The Future of Life Institute is a nonprofit that works to keep powerful new technology from harming humanity. It is best known for its work on artificial intelligence. The group wrote the famous 2023 letter that asked labs to pause the most advanced AI experiments. It also created an influential set of AI safety rules years earlier.

This page explains what the Future of Life Institute is, who founded it, how it is funded, and why it matters in the wider AI debate.

What Is the Future of Life Institute?

The Future of Life Institute is a nonprofit that works to steer transformative technology toward benefiting life and away from large-scale risks. That mission statement comes from the Future of Life Institute itself. The group was founded in March 2014 in the Boston area.

Its main focus is advanced artificial intelligence. But it also works on other global dangers.

More than just AI

FLI worries about any technology that could cause huge harm. Its other focus areas include nuclear weapons, biotechnology, and climate change.

The common thread is scale. FLI cares most about risks that could affect all of humanity at once.

A public start at MIT

FLI held its first public event at MIT in 2014. It was a panel discussion called "The Future of Technology: Benefits and Risks."

The actor Alan Alda moderated the panel. From the start, FLI aimed to reach the public, not just experts.

Who Founded the Future of Life Institute?

The Future of Life Institute was founded by five people in March 2014. They came from science, technology, and academia. The group has led the organization ever since.

The five co-founders are a mix of physicists and tech figures.

The five co-founders

Max Tegmark, a cosmologist and physics professor at MIT, who serves as president.
Jaan Tallinn, a co-founder of Skype and a major funder of AI safety work.
Viktoriya Krakovna, a research scientist at Google DeepMind.
Meia Chita-Tegmark, a researcher who studies the social side of technology.
Anthony Aguirre, a physics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

A shared worry

The founders shared one big concern. They feared that human-level or superintelligent AI could pose a serious risk.

They did not want to stop technology. They wanted to make sure it stayed safe and helpful.

Who Is Max Tegmark?

Max Tegmark is a Swedish-American physicist who co-founded the Future of Life Institute and serves as its president. He is a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the most public face of the organization.

Tegmark built his early career in cosmology, the study of the universe's origins. Over time, his focus shifted toward artificial intelligence.

The author of Life 3.0

Tegmark wrote the 2017 book "Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence." The title describes a new stage of life. In this stage, life can redesign both its body and its own software, or mind.

The book explores many possible futures shaped by AI. Some are hopeful, and some are frightening.

"Life 3.0" reached the New York Times bestseller list. It helped bring AI safety ideas to a mass audience and made Tegmark a household name in the field.

A leading safety voice

Tegmark uses his platform to push for caution. He argues that humanity is not ready for the AI it is building.

He often speaks about the race between AI labs. He warns that competition can push safety aside, a theme central to today's debate over how close we are to AGI.

The 2017 Asilomar AI Principles

The Asilomar AI Principles are 23 guidelines for building safe and beneficial AI. The Future of Life Institute created them at a conference in January 2017. The meeting took place at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in California.

More than 100 experts attended. They came from computer science, economics, law, and philosophy.

How the principles were made

The group did not just vote quickly. Each of the 23 principles had to win support from at least 90% of the participants.

That high bar was on purpose. FLI wanted rules that most of the field could accept.

What the principles cover

The principles cover research goals, ethics, and long-term risks. They call for AI to be safe, transparent, and aligned with human values.

After the conference, 1,797 AI and robotics researchers signed on. The principles became an early landmark in the field of AI safety.

The Pause Giant AI Experiments Letter

The "Pause Giant AI Experiments" letter asked all AI labs to pause their most advanced work for at least six months. The Future of Life Institute published it on March 29, 2023. It quickly became one of the most talked-about documents in tech.

The letter targeted the biggest systems. It asked labs to stop training AI more powerful than GPT-4.

What it warned about

The letter listed several dangers. These included AI-made propaganda, extreme job automation, human obsolescence, and a loss of control over society.

It argued that no one, not even the labs, could predict or control these systems. It said such power needed a pause and careful planning.

Who signed it

The letter gathered more than 30,000 signatures. Famous names included Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and author Yuval Noah Harari.

Top AI scientists signed too, such as Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell. For the full timeline of how this letter fit into the AGI debate, see our explainer on how close we are to AGI.

Who Funds the Future of Life Institute?

The Future of Life Institute is funded mainly by private donations from tech figures and foundations. It does not sell products or take large government contracts. A few big gifts have shaped its budget.

Its most famous early backer was Elon Musk.

Musk's early gift

FLI's AI research program began in 2015. It started with a $10 million donation from Elon Musk.

That money funded 37 research projects on AI safety. The gift gave the young nonprofit real influence early on.

The Buterin donation

FLI's largest donor is Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of the cryptocurrency Ethereum. In 2021 he donated crypto worth roughly $665 million.

That single gift made FLI far larger than most safety groups. FLI says Buterin has no formal or informal role in its decisions.

Awards and Autonomous Weapons

The Future of Life Institute does far more than write letters. It also gives an annual award and campaigns against killer robots. This wider work shows the group's broad view of technology risk.

One project honors quiet heroes of the past.

The Future of Life Award

FLI runs the Future of Life Award, which comes with a $50,000 prize. Jaan Tallinn funds it. The award honors people who helped humanity avoid disaster without much credit at the time.

Winners include Stanislav Petrov and Vasili Arkhipov. Both Soviet officers helped prevent nuclear war during the Cold War.

The fight against killer robots

FLI is a strong voice against lethal autonomous weapons. These are weapons that can pick and kill targets without a human choice.

The group released a chilling short film called "Slaughterbots" to warn the public. You can learn more in our guide to autonomous weapons.

Why the Future of Life Institute Matters

The Future of Life Institute matters because it helped turn AI safety into a global conversation. Its Asilomar Principles and pause letter reached far beyond the research world. Few nonprofits have shaped the debate as much.

Its founders lend it real weight. MIT's Max Tegmark and scientists like those it works with are hard to dismiss.

The criticism it faces

Not everyone praises FLI's approach. Some critics say its focus on future, world-ending risks pulls attention from present-day harms like bias and job loss.

This tension sits at the heart of the movement often called the AI doomers. FLI stands firmly on the side that warns loudly about long-term danger.

The bottom line

The Future of Life Institute is one of the most important groups in the AI safety world. It blends respected scientists, big donors, and bold public campaigns. Whether its warnings prove right is still an open question.

To follow the fight over AI's future that FLI helped start, read our daily AI briefing.

Frequently asked questions

▸ What is the Future of Life Institute?

The Future of Life Institute, or FLI, is a nonprofit that works to keep powerful technology safe for humanity. It was founded in 2014 near Boston. Its stated mission is to steer transformative technology toward benefiting life and away from large-scale risks. FLI focuses mostly on advanced artificial intelligence, but it also works on nuclear weapons, biotechnology, and climate risk.

▸ Who founded the Future of Life Institute?

The Future of Life Institute was founded in March 2014 by five people. They were MIT physicist Max Tegmark, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, DeepMind research scientist Viktoriya Krakovna, scholar Meia Chita-Tegmark, and physicist Anthony Aguirre. Max Tegmark serves as its president. The group held its first public event at MIT that same year, moderated by actor Alan Alda.

▸ Who is Max Tegmark?

Max Tegmark is a Swedish-American physicist and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He co-founded the Future of Life Institute and serves as its president. He is also the author of the 2017 bestseller "Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence." He has become one of the best-known voices calling for caution on advanced AI.

▸ Who funds the Future of Life Institute?

The Future of Life Institute is funded mainly by private donations. Its research program began in 2015 with a $10 million gift from Elon Musk. Its largest donor is Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who gave cryptocurrency worth roughly $665 million in 2021. FLI says Buterin has no role in its decisions.

▸ What did the Pause AI letter say?

The "Pause Giant AI Experiments" letter asked all AI labs to pause for at least six months. Specifically, it called for a halt on training AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. FLI published it on March 29, 2023. It warned of risks like AI-made propaganda, mass job loss, and a loss of human control. It gathered more than 30,000 signatures.

▸ What are the Asilomar AI Principles?

The Asilomar AI Principles are 23 guidelines for safe and beneficial AI. FLI created them at a January 2017 conference in Asilomar, California. More than 100 experts helped write them. Each principle had to win support from at least 90% of the group. They were later signed by 1,797 AI and robotics researchers.

▸ What is Life 3.0 about?

"Life 3.0" is Max Tegmark's 2017 book about artificial intelligence and the future. The title refers to life that can redesign both its body and its own mind, which he argues advanced AI could allow. The book explores possible futures, from very good to very bad. It became a New York Times bestseller and helped bring AI safety to a wide audience.

▸ Is the Future of Life Institute credible?

The Future of Life Institute is a well-known and widely cited nonprofit in the AI safety field. Its founders include respected scientists like MIT's Max Tegmark. Its letters and principles have been signed by leading researchers such as Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell. Critics do argue that its focus on future risks can distract from present-day AI harms.