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Half a trillion in IPO-funded giving
The lens is effective altruism, the movement tied to concern about AI existential risk, and money at that scale changes outcomes. George Soros's philosophy and capital reshaped outcomes, as did the Koch family's and Sheldon Adelson's.
Competing ideas will each be well funded by third-party actors, so the contest shifts away from party politics and toward these donors.
The Anthropic IPO alone is expected to create something like 100 new billionaires from the effective altruism world. As they move into politics, the effect is projected to be like George Soros times 100 or 1,000.
Where did effective altruism come from?
The movement draws on philosopher Peter Singer's 1972 essay Famine, Affluence, and Morality, which argued that people should give to prevent suffering when they can do so at little cost to themselves. Oxford philosophers Toby Ord and Will MacAskill started Giving What We Can in 2009, and the name effective altruism was adopted in 2011. GiveWell, founded in 2007, ranks charities by estimated impact per dollar. Concern about AI risk entered the movement later through writers such as Nick Bostrom.
How do donor-advised funds work?
A donor-advised fund is an account held by a sponsoring charity, such as a community foundation or a financial firm's charitable arm. A donor contributes assets to the account, and the contribution is irrevocable. The donor can recommend grants to charities over time, but the sponsor holds legal control. The National Philanthropic Trust's annual report counts more than 200 billion dollars in assets in U.S. donor-advised funds.
How did earlier fortunes shape philanthropy?
Andrew Carnegie's 1889 essay The Gospel of Wealth argued that rich people should spend their fortunes on public benefit during their lifetimes. John D. Rockefeller chartered the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913, which funded public health work such as the campaign against hookworm in the American South. Carnegie funded more than 2,500 public libraries around the world.
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