University of Chicago

The University of Chicago, founded in 1890 on Chicago's South Side, is one of the world's preeminent research universities, affiliated with 101 Nobel laureates and home to approximately 18,000 students across undergraduate and graduate programs. The university hosts several distinct programs that are relevant to AI safety and existential risk reduction. The Existential Risk Laboratory (XLab), founded in 2022 and formerly known as the Chicago School of Existential Risk, is housed within the university and led by Director Daniel Holz, a professor of Physics and chair of the Science and Security Board at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. XLab focuses on AI safety, biosecurity, nuclear security, and extreme climate change. It runs an annual Summer Research Fellowship — a competitive 10-week in-person program offering stipends of $10,000 plus housing and meals — and an AI Safety Fundamentals course. XLab is supported by Open Philanthropy and the Survival and Flourishing Fund, and has received grants including $301,800 (2024) for its fellowship program. Note: XLab has its own separate entry in this database. The Chicago Human+AI Lab (CHAI), directed by Associate Professor Chenhao Tan of the Department of Computer Science and Data Science, focuses on developing AI systems that complement human capabilities rather than simply replacing them. This research includes prompting science, mechanistic interpretability, and AI-assisted scientific discovery. Open Philanthropy granted the University $250,000 to support Prof. Tan's complementary AI research. The Harris School of Public Policy introduced the Technology and Society Initiative to leverage evidence and analysis for technology governance. Faculty have produced AI governance recommendations addressing elections, misinformation, privacy, and market concentration, working with policymakers and companies including OpenAI and Meta. The Booth School of Business hosts the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, which investigates how AI can augment human decision-making. A new faculty hire from Anthropic is joining the Booth faculty in 2026. The Data Science Institute (DSI) has partnered with Google on AI security and safety research, including AI-generated content detection, LLM privacy protection, and LLM-based digital safety agents. Open Philanthropy also funds course development grants through UChicago's Graduate Division for courses on AI risk and biosecurity. The university holds a historical connection to existential risk: it was the site of the first sustained nuclear reaction in 1942 and the birthplace of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1945. Its endowment reached $10.4 billion at the end of FY2024.