“The funding conversation we left unfinished” by jenn

“The funding conversation we left unfinished” by jenn

Author: LessWrong December 13, 2025 Duration: 4:54
People working in the AI industry are making stupid amounts of money, and word on the street is that Anthropic is going to have some sort of liquidity event soon (for example possibly IPOing sometime next year). A lot of people working in AI are familiar with EA, and are intending to direct donations our way (if they haven't started already). People are starting to discuss what this might mean for their own personal donations and for the ecosystem, and this is encouraging to see.

It also has me thinking about 2022. Immediately before the FTX collapse, we were just starting to reckon, as a community, with the pretty significant vibe shift in EA that came from having a lot more money to throw around.

CitizenTen, in "The Vultures Are Circling" (April 2022), puts it this way:

The message is out. There's easy money to be had. And the vultures are coming. On many internet circles, there's been a worrying tone. “You should apply for [insert EA grant], all I had to do was pretend to care about x, and I got $$!” Or, “I’m not even an EA, but I can pretend, as getting a 10k grant is [...]

---

First published:
December 9th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JtFnkoSmJ7b6Tj3TK/the-funding-conversation-we-left-unfinished

---



Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.


Dive into a stream of ideas where technology, culture, philosophy, and society intersect, all through the lens of the LessWrong (Curated & Popular) podcast. This isn't a traditional talk show with hosts, but rather a curated audio library of the most impactful writing from the LessWrong community. Each episode is a narration of a full post, selected for its high value and interesting arguments, focusing on pieces that have been formally curated or have garnered significant community approval. You'll hear clear, thoughtful readings of essays that tackle complex topics like artificial intelligence, rational thinking, moral philosophy, and the forces shaping our future. The audio format lets you absorb these dense, often paradigm-shifting concepts during a commute or a walk, turning written analysis into an immersive listening experience. This particular feed is deliberately selective, offering a manageable stream of the community's standout work. For those who want an even deeper dive into the discussion, there are broader feeds available. The LessWrong (Curated & Popular) podcast serves as an intellectual filter, delivering the signal through the noise and inviting you to engage with some of the most rigorously examined ideas on the internet.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

LessWrong (Curated & Popular)
Podcast Episodes
"Responsible Scaling Policy v3" by HoldenKarnofsky [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:01
All views are my own, not Anthropic's. This post assumes Anthropic's announcement of RSP v3.0 as background.Today, Anthropic released its Responsible Scaling Policy 3.0. The official announcement discusses the high-level…
"Why we should expect ruthless sociopath ASI" by Steven Byrnes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:11
The conversation begins (Fictional) Optimist: So you expect future artificial superintelligence (ASI) “by default”, i.e. in the absence of yet-to-be-invented techniques, to be a ruthless sociopath, happy to lie, cheat, a…
"You’re an AI Expert – Not an Influencer" by Max Winga [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:39
Your hot takes are killing your credibility. Prior to my last year at ControlAI, I was a physicist working on technical AI safety research. Like many of those warning about the dangers of AI, I don’t come from a backgrou…
"The optimal age to freeze eggs is 19" by GeneSmith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:31
If you're a woman interested in preserving your fertility window beyond its natural close in your late 30s, egg freezing is one of your best options. The female reproductive system is one of the fastest aging parts of hu…
"The world keeps getting saved and you don’t notice" by Bogoed [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:29
Nothing groundbreaking, just something people forget constantly, and I’m writing it down so I don’t have to re-explain it from scratch. The world does not just ”keep working.” It keeps getting saved. Y2K was a real probl…
"Solemn Courage" by aysja [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:11
Every so often it slips. It seems I am writing a book, but I can’t remember why. Somehow, the sentences are supposed to perform that impossible, intimate task: to translate my inner world into another. Yet they sit there…
"Life at the Frontlines of Demographic Collapse" by Martin Sustrik [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:46
Nagoro, a depopulated village in Japan where residents are replaced by dolls. In 1960, Yubari, a former coal-mining city on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, had roughly 110,000 residents. Today, fewer than 7,000 rema…