Bringing AI's toughest questions into focus

Our mission

AI will transform the world at an unprecedented pace. Already developments are happening so fast that it's impossible to keep up: there's a constant stream of contradictory predictions and competing policy proposals. Meanwhile, the communities shaping AI's future — industry leaders, safety researchers, security experts, civil society groups, policymakers, and academics — work in parallel, with too few avenues for candid discussion and collaboration.

The Golden Gate Institute for AI is a think tank dedicated to addressing the most critical challenges of the transition to a world with powerful AI. We envision a future where institutions and experts across domains collaborate with urgency and humility to meet these oncoming challenges and opportunities, promoting security, democracy, and shared prosperity.

Our mission is to support leaders as they navigate this high-stakes period by bridging disciplines, convening experts, and publishing accessible analysis of AI’s toughest questions. When conflicting perspectives emerge on crucial questions, we serve as the organization you can turn to for clarity and insight.

Our approach

We focus on two complementary activies:

Convenings: We bring together people with diverse viewpoints and expertise to engage in productive dialogue. Building on the success of The Curve conference, we create environments where AI labs, policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders can move beyond polarized debates to find common ground and develop nuanced perspectives.

Accessible analysis: We take complex ideas circulating within the AI community, identify key points of agreement and disagreement, and present a synthesis for a broad audience without oversimplification. Through our publication Second Thoughts, we offer timely, thoughtful analysis that helps leaders make sense of AI developments.

Our focus areas

• Timelines & Capabilities: How quickly will AI development advance?
• Economic Impacts: How quickly will AI be adopted, and what impact will this have on the economy? How can we ensure AI creates broad-based economic benefits?
• Democracy & Governance: How must democratic and other key institutions adapt to the challenges and opportunities that AI brings?
• Realizing Benefits: What can we do to unlock and facilitate adoption of beneficial uses of AI?