Perhaps there could be two forms of engagement—one that is more transactional, and one that involves the person more as a figurehead. If they seem like a problematic figurehead, EA could try in some way to keep them more at arm’s length. I guess this has already happened with Elon a bit, as he’s not publicly associated with AI but is clearly EA-aligned.
I think there is at least one counterexample to your generally negative opinion of mega donors, btw, which is Dustin and Cari. I don’t know them at all, so I guess this could age badly, but I have been thinking recently that we seem to have been exceptionally lucky with them. Open Phil is pretty close to best practice in a lot of ways.
I would also push back on your point 2, in that I actually think it’s important to have leadership that has the confidence of both the funder and e.g. grantees. I don’t think that’s incompatible with the donor choosing the leadership.
Dustin and Cari at Open Phil may be exceptions, I have zero inside knowledge about them. Assuming you’re right and they’re paragons of EA-ness, which would be quite laudable, I see that as the exception that proves the rule. Maybe they don’t need to give up the reins because they live the values of EA so well, but that isn’t true of most people, and there’s no reason to think that’d be true of most UHNW people.
EA hasn’t pushed Musk and Thiel away nearly strongly enough for me. I know EA isn’t a top down movement, but there are individuals with lots of EA credibility who can and should be making it more clear that what those two are doing isn’t EA.
On my point 2, I’ll admit I don’t have a clear solution in mind. There needs to be a way to ensure there are good people in charge who will apply EA principles toward the organization’s goals, and maybe the funder can have some initial influence. However, I’m highly suspicious of people who got billions and now claim to want to give it away but only if they can control it. Concentration of power is dangerous in every other aspect of society, I think it’s obvious that EA is no exception. If someone truly believes in the principles of EA, then they must be willing to at least dilute their control considerably.
From my basic understanding of Open Phil, it does seem like Dustin & Cari have given up the reins to a large extent? Open Phil has hired lots of staff who are making the granting decisions, although maybe Dustin & Cari have a large influence over the cause areas.
Perhaps there could be two forms of engagement—one that is more transactional, and one that involves the person more as a figurehead. If they seem like a problematic figurehead, EA could try in some way to keep them more at arm’s length. I guess this has already happened with Elon a bit, as he’s not publicly associated with AI but is clearly EA-aligned.
I think there is at least one counterexample to your generally negative opinion of mega donors, btw, which is Dustin and Cari. I don’t know them at all, so I guess this could age badly, but I have been thinking recently that we seem to have been exceptionally lucky with them. Open Phil is pretty close to best practice in a lot of ways.
I would also push back on your point 2, in that I actually think it’s important to have leadership that has the confidence of both the funder and e.g. grantees. I don’t think that’s incompatible with the donor choosing the leadership.
Dustin and Cari at Open Phil may be exceptions, I have zero inside knowledge about them. Assuming you’re right and they’re paragons of EA-ness, which would be quite laudable, I see that as the exception that proves the rule. Maybe they don’t need to give up the reins because they live the values of EA so well, but that isn’t true of most people, and there’s no reason to think that’d be true of most UHNW people.
EA hasn’t pushed Musk and Thiel away nearly strongly enough for me. I know EA isn’t a top down movement, but there are individuals with lots of EA credibility who can and should be making it more clear that what those two are doing isn’t EA.
On my point 2, I’ll admit I don’t have a clear solution in mind. There needs to be a way to ensure there are good people in charge who will apply EA principles toward the organization’s goals, and maybe the funder can have some initial influence. However, I’m highly suspicious of people who got billions and now claim to want to give it away but only if they can control it. Concentration of power is dangerous in every other aspect of society, I think it’s obvious that EA is no exception. If someone truly believes in the principles of EA, then they must be willing to at least dilute their control considerably.
From my basic understanding of Open Phil, it does seem like Dustin & Cari have given up the reins to a large extent? Open Phil has hired lots of staff who are making the granting decisions, although maybe Dustin & Cari have a large influence over the cause areas.
It does indeed. I believe Dustin is on record saying that if he disagreed with Open Phil he would likely defer to their decision