“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 [...]

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First published:
December 9th, 2025

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

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Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

LessWrong (Curated & Popular)
Podcast Episodes
"In My Misanthropy Era" by jenn [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:51
For the past year I've been sinking into the Great Books via the Penguin Great Ideas series, because I wanted to be conversant in the Great Conversation. I am occasionally frustrated by this endeavour, but overall, it's…
"2025 in AI predictions" by jessicata [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:53
Past years: 2023 2024 Continuing a yearly tradition, I evaluate AI predictions from past years, and collect a convenience sample of AI predictions made this year. In terms of selection, I prefer selecting specific predic…
"Good if make prior after data instead of before" by dynomight [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:47
They say you’re supposed to choose your prior in advance. That's why it's called a “prior”. First, you’re supposed to say say how plausible different things are, and then you update your beliefs based on what you see in…
"Turning 20 in the probable pre-apocalypse" by Parv Mahajan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:03
Master version of this on https://parvmahajan.com/2025/12/21/turning-20.html I turn 20 in January, and the world looks very strange. Probably, things will change very quickly. Maybe, one of those things is whether or not…
"Dancing in a World of Horseradish" by lsusr [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:29
Commercial airplane tickets are divided up into coach, business class, and first class. In 2014, Etihad introduced The Residence, a premium experience above first class. The Residence isn't very popular. The reason The R…