KIRA Center

The KIRA Center (Zentrum fur KI-Risiken und -Auswirkungen gUG) is an independent German nonprofit think tank founded in April 2023 and based in Berlin. Its full name translates to Center for AI Risks and Impacts, and it operates under a gUG limited liability structure. The organization was founded by Daniel Privitera, who serves as Executive Director, alongside co-founders including Charlotte Siegmann. The small core team also includes Philip Fox as European AI Policy Lead and Anton Leicht as an affiliate for international AI policy.

KIRA was founded on the premise that advanced AI presents both extraordinary opportunities and severe risks, and that neither outcome is guaranteed by default. The organization focuses on ensuring that governments, particularly in Germany and the EU, develop the institutional capacity, technical understanding, and policy frameworks needed to govern advanced AI systems responsibly.

Key programs include an AI Boot Camp for Policymakers, which delivers tailored technical training to parliamentarians and civil servants covering AI foundations, societal benefits, risk categories, and governance strategies. KIRA also produces policy-relevant research, including a 2025 AI Compute Report examining Germany's AI infrastructure and global competitiveness, and contributed to EU AI Act implementation guidance for frontier AI.

On the international stage, KIRA's founder Daniel Privitera served as Lead Writer of the 2025 International AI Safety Report, a landmark scientific consensus document supported by 30 countries, the UN, and the EU. KIRA has also published op-eds in TIME magazine with Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio introducing a Beneficial AI Roadmap (BAIR), and in outlets including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, The Economist, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Al Jazeera. The organization is registered on the EU Transparency Register and engages in advocacy at the European level.

As of 2023, KIRA operated with an annual budget of approximately EUR 89,000, funded primarily through donations from foundations and individuals including the GTR Foundation, Reinhard Wiesemann, and Joel Richard.