Scaling AI Safety Through Mentorship w/ Dr. Ryan Kidd
Into AI Safety
Improving research taste and selection vs. training
Ryan explains MATS' milestone-based approach to building research judgment and limits of program pedagogy.
What does it actually take to build a successful AI safety organization? I'm joined by Dr. Ryan Kidd, who has co-led MATS from a small pilot program to one of the field's premier talent pipelines. In this episode, he reveals the low-hanging fruit in AI safety field-building that most people are missing: the amplifier archetype.
I pushed Ryan on some hard questions, from balancing funder priorities and research independence, to building a robust selection process for both mentors and participants. Whether you're considering a career pivot into AI safety or already working in the field, this conversation offers practical advice on how to actually make an impact.
Chapters
- (00:00) - - Intro
- (08:16) - - Building MATS Post-FTX & Summer of Love
- (13:09) - - Balancing Funder Priorities and Research Independence
- (19:44) - - The MATS Selection Process
- (33:15) - - Talent Archetypes in AI Safety
- (50:22) - - Comparative Advantage and Career Capital in AI Safety
- (01:04:35) - - Building the AI Safety Ecosystem
- (01:15:28) - - What Makes a Great AI Safety Amplifier
- (01:21:44) - - Lightning Round Questions
- (01:30:30) - - Final Thoughts & Outro
Links
Ryan's Writing
- LessWrong post - Talent needs of technical AI safety teams
- LessWrong post - AI safety undervalues founders
- LessWrong comment - Comment permalink with 2025 MATS program details
- LessWrong post - Talk: AI Safety Fieldbuilding at MATS
- LessWrong post - MATS Mentor Selection
- LessWrong post - Why I funded PIBBSS
- EA Forum post - How MATS addresses mass movement building concerns
FTX Funding of AI Safety
- LessWrong blogpost - An Overview of the AI Safety Funding Situation
- Fortune article - Why Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX debacle is roiling A.I. research
- NY Times article - FTX probes $6.5M in payments to AI safety group amid clawback crusade
- Cointelegraph article - FTX probes $6.5M in payments to AI safety group amid clawback crusade
- FTX Future Fund article - Future Fund June 2022 Update (archive)
- Tracxn page - Anthropic Funding and Investors
Training & Support Programs
- Catalyze Impact
- Seldon Lab
- SPAR
- BlueDot Impact
- YCombinator
- Pivotal
- Athena
- Astra Fellowship
- Horizon Fellowship
- BASE Fellowship
- LASR Labs
- Entrepeneur First
Funding Organizations
- Coefficient Giving (previously Open Philanthropy)
- LTFF
- Longview Philanthropy
- Renaissance Philanthropy
Coworking Spaces
Research Organizations & Startups
Other Sources
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