Foresight Institute

What work in usable security deserves recognition? Our $10,000 Norm Hardy Prize recognizes work that makes secure systems easier to use. Applications are open. Society depends on infrastructure that depends on security — yet our current software infrastructure isn't just insecure, it's insecurable. No interface fixes a broken foundation. We know how to build vastly more secure systems; the challenge is designing interactions that let people use them securely. If your work contributes to this, we want to hear from you. We welcome both academic and practical contributions. Apply by July 31: https://lnkd.in/gaTtKjfm

AI capabilities are advancing faster than our defenses, privacy infrastructure, and coordination mechanisms. July 18–19, we're hosting a Secure & Sovereign AI Workshop in Berlin, bringing together researchers and builders to collaborate on these challenges across three interconnected domains: AI for Secure AI, AI for Private AI, and AI for Decentralized & Cooperative AI. Speakers include Jesse Posner (Vora), Robin Hanson (George Mason University), Nitzan Shulman (Heron AI), ML Sudo (Project Sovereign), Alex Obadia (ARIA), and more. If you're working on AI safety, security, privacy, or decentralized cooperation, apply to attend: https://lnkd.in/eB6KXqvY Sponsored by: Protocol Labs

Meet 🛰 Philip Linden, Senior Space Systems Engineer at Planet, fellow of Open Lunar Foundation, and Foresight Fellow 2026. Philip is currently researching timekeeping for lunar missions: a foundational and under explored question needing to be solved to enable a cislunar economy. He's also a long-time contributor to MoonDAO, supporting community-led approaches to space development. Philip and collaborator Ashley Kosak recently published an introduction to their platform Epoch Lunar, along with the roadmap for their Space Time Card: https://lnkd.in/gBDKwrcd They're currently seeking a technical advisor for industry partnerships as they bring the Space Time Card to market. Reach out to Philip at philiplinden [at] openlunar [dot] org or via LinkedIn DM.

This is a high-powered crowd. I’ll need to be at the top of my game. Join us!!

Molecular self-assembly. Private AI. Brain-computer interfaces. AGI safety. Hacking aging biology. Dyson spheres. Funding models for long-horizon science. We can’t wait for the talks at Vision Weekend UK. June 5-7 in London. Tickets: https://lnkd.in/dBi3y3CC Full speaker lineup: • Greg Wayne (Google DeepMind) on universal AI assistants • William Shih (Harvard University) on self-assembly and the coming age of molecular machines • Ed Boyden (MIT) on incentives in science • Moxie Marlinspike (Confer) on private AI • Lee Cronin (University of Glasgow) • Irina Rish (Mila) on beyond scaling: toward continual and adaptive intelligence • Christine Peterson (Foresight Institute) on Foresight, 40 years later • Marius Hobbhahn (Apollo Research) on the case for AGI safety products • Anders Sandberg (Institute for Future Studies) on Dyson 2070: how fast can we build a Dyson sphere and how stable are they? • Joao Pedro de Magalhaes (University of Birmingham) on hacking aging biology • Dorothy Chou (Google DeepMind) on capital for the long game: financing durable innovation in an age of hype • Sergey Stavisky (UC Davis) on high-bandwidth BCIs for restoring speech and language • Žiga Avsec (Google DeepMind) on advancing regulatory variant effect prediction with AlphaGenome • Darja Isaksson (Vinnova) • Christopher Rozell (Georgia Institute of Technology) on closed-loop neuroengineering: algorithms that learn from the brain in real time • Jerzy Szablowski (Rice University) on precision neuromodulation through molecular engineering and focused ultrasound • Lynne Cox (University of Oxford) • Jonah Weinbaum (Institute for Progress) on the ‘launch sequence’: towards a concrete agenda for defensive acceleration • Peter Gehler (Tübingen AI Institute) • Joseph T. Meyerowitz (Field Foundry) fireside chat • Kathleen Fisher (ARIA) • Mehmet Fisek (Meridial) • Dr. Thane Campbell (Deep Science Ventures) • Ankur V. (Google DeepMind) on AI for science 2030 • Jano Costard (SPRIND) on challenges as a tool for breakthrough innovation • Ronit Kanwar (Renaissance Philanthropy) on fuelling scientific renaissances • Adam Shai (Simplex AI Safety) on the neural basis of intelligent behavior • Zoë Brammer (Google DeepMind) on AI for science 2030 • Leah Eliz Morris (Pillar VC) on AI for science • Kirill Eves (e184) • Eric Gilliam (Renaissance Philanthropy), moderator Funding X track • Jacques Carolan (ARIA), moderator, Neurotechnology track • Barbara Diehl (SPRIND), co-moderator, Now What? Pathways to Implementation track Powered by: Apollo Research Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) e184 Cambridge University Health Partners Renaissance Philanthropy SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen And-Now

Secure AI: what are the outstanding problems and possible solutions? In this seminar, Andrew Trask harvests Foresight's Secure AI Tech Tree, and makes the case that most outstanding problems – privacy, copyright, hallucination, disinformation, bias – are sub-cases of a meta problem: insufficient attribution-based control. Solving it requires that three communities (deep learning, cryptography, distributed systems) understand each other. Watch: https://lnkd.in/eUCMTfiF Explore the Secure AI Tech Tree in the comments.

Our Berlin Node manager Bradley Clark Royes and the rest of us at Foresight are excited to officially support Safe AI Germany as they grow, and to host their first in-person event at our Berlin AI Node. Keep an eye out for another in-person collab with SAIGE coming in September.

Announcing the third Annual Progress Conference! The pace of technological change feels faster this year, and the progress movement is growing too. Gathering people together helps build community and establish a movement’s identity. We want this annual event to continue to connect and inspire people, catalyze new projects, and share ideas. Thanks to everyone who made Progress Conference 2025 great: over 350 people attended, the event sold out in June, and there were hundreds of interested people on the waitlist. Several attendees again said it was the best conference they had ever attended. We shared more of our reflections on our blog, including a list of write-ups from writers like Santi Ruiz, Ruy Teixeira, Ryan Puzycki, and more. We are excited to build on that momentum for 2026: Hosted by: the Roots of Progress Institute, together with Abundance Institute, Foresight Institute, Foundation for American Innovation, Human Progress, Institute for Humane Studies, IFP – Institute for Progress, and Works In Progress. When: October 8–11, 2026. Where: Berkeley, CA, again at the Lighthaven campus that got great reviews the last two years. Speakers: Keynote speakers include Dmitri Dolgov (Co-CEO, Waymo), Tyler Cowen (Mercatus Center), Stephen Winchell (Director, DARPA), John Martinis (Qolab; Nobel Laureate in Physics), and Michael Kremer (University of Chicago; Nobel Laureate in Economics). 20+ additional speakers will share ideas across three tracks: Human Talent & Potential, AI & Robotics, and Security & Resilience. Attendees: We expect ~400 leaders across tech, policy, and culture; builders, founders, policymakers, storytellers, writers, and students. This is an invitation-only event, but anyone can apply for an invitation. Complete the open application on our website by May 31st. Program: Similar to 2025, the main two-day conference will happen all day on Friday and Saturday. Participants will attend talks on topics ranging from AI and robotics to housing construction to psychology and philosophy of builders, organize and run unconference sessions, mingle in the garden, and more. Thursday and Sunday are add-on days, with optional gatherings for interest groups and other activities like factory tours to Bay Area startups. Children under 12 years old are welcome—must be accompanied by a parent at all times (except during childcare). We also plan to have on-site childcare available on Friday and Saturday with progress-themed programming. Sponsors: Special thanks to our early sponsors Coefficient Giving, Astera Institute, Jane Street, Ken Broad, Works In Progress, Halcyon Futures, Inclusive Abundance, LENS, MNX, Archbridge Institute, Good Science Project, Institute for Humane Studies, Circulate Planning & Policy, and Foundation for Economic Education. Sponsorships make events like this one possible. We have more sponsorships available; see the conference info page below or contact us for details. https://lnkd.in/etB8_6dw

If you are passionate about local AI and have an idea you want to try, consider joining one of the new AI nodes launched recently by the Foresight Institute in San Francisco and Berlin.