AI Objectives Institute

The AI Objectives Institute (AOI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and development lab founded in 2021 by the late Dr. Peter Eckersley and Brittney Gallagher. Peter Eckersley was an internet security pioneer known for his work at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and as a co-creator of Let's Encrypt. He conceived AOI as an institute focused on identifying and aligning the objectives of AI with those of society. After Eckersley's passing in September 2022, the organization continued under the leadership of Brittney Gallagher (Co-founder and Vice President), Deger Turan (President, also CEO of Metaculus), and Colleen McKenzie (Executive Director, former product manager at Google and Chief of Staff at Center for Humane Technology). AOI's research is organized around three pillars: sociotechnical alignment (developing governable AI systems and alternative paradigms), scalable coordination (improving collective deliberation and decision-making), and human autonomy (enhancing civilizational resilience and agency). The institute employs a strategy of differential technological development, advancing safety-enhancing progress while working to slow risk-increasing developments. The organization's flagship projects include Talk to the City (T3C), an open-source AI tool that enhances collective decision-making by analyzing democratic input while preserving the diversity of individual opinions. T3C has been deployed with Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs for AI policy consultations, partnered with Search for Common Ground in Sub-Saharan Africa, and collaborated with the CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation on youth political dialogue in Yemen. Other major projects include the Moral Learning project (funded by the John Templeton Foundation, led by Dr. Anna Leshinskaya), the AI Supply Chain Observatory (AISCO), and the Gradual Disempowerment Observatory. AOI is supported by the Survival and Flourishing Fund, the Future of Life Institute (which provided a $500,000 grant in 2023), the Foresight Institute, the Goodly Institute, and the John Templeton Foundation. The organization's board includes Tasha McCauley (technology entrepreneur, board member of Centre for the Governance of AI), Timothy Telleen-Lawton (former Head of Procurement for Anthropic), and Anders Sandberg (computational neuroscientist and philosopher, formerly of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute). Advisors include David Dalrymple, Orowa Sikder (Anthropic), Brian Christian (author of The Alignment Problem), Max Wainwright (co-founder of Metaculus), and Aviv Ovadya (Harvard Berkman Klein Center). As of 2025-2026, AOI is actively contributing to the development of the EU's AI Act Codes of Practice, publishing research on AI governance through markets and gradual disempowerment risks, and expanding Talk to the City's international deployments. The team of approximately 15 staff members spans research, engineering, design, and operations, with additional board members and advisors.