Macrostrategy Research Initiative

The Macrostrategy Research Initiative is a UK-based nonprofit research organization founded by Nick Bostrom, one of the most influential thinkers on existential risk and the long-term future of humanity. Bostrom previously served as Professor at Oxford University and founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) from 2005 until its closure in 2024. The Macrostrategy Research Initiative was incorporated in August 2023 as a private company limited by guarantee, with Bostrom serving as Founder and Principal Researcher. Macrostrategy, as a field of research, was pioneered by Bostrom and was a core focus area of FHI. The field is concerned with understanding what Bostrom calls our macrostrategic situation, meaning the larger context in which human civilization exists and how current choices relate to long-term outcomes or ultimate values. Research areas include the assessment of general hypotheses such as the hinge of history hypothesis, the vulnerable world hypothesis, and the technological completion conjecture; the development of conceptual tools such as the concepts of existential risk, crucial considerations, and differential progress; and the analysis of impacts and capabilities of future technologies such as artificial general intelligence, whole brain emulation, and atomically precise manufacturing. The organization represents a continuation of Bostrom's decades of foundational research that helped incubate the AI safety field, the existential risk and rationalist communities, and the effective altruism movement. Bostrom is the author of several highly influential books including Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014) and Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World (2024). His current research includes work on AGI governance, with recent papers on topics such as optimal timing for superintelligence and open global investment as a governance model for AGI. The organization is governed by two directors: Tobias Newberry, who serves as Chief of Staff and previously held the same role at FHI, and Oliver Habryka, CEO of Lightcone Infrastructure and LessWrong, who joined the board in January 2025. The organization has received funding from Jaan Tallinn through the Survival and Flourishing Fund.