Stanford University

Stanford University was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their son, and admitted its first students in 1891. Located on an 8,353-acre campus in Stanford, California, the university comprises seven schools and is home to 17,314 students and 2,402 faculty as of 2025. Stanford has a total consolidated annual budget of approximately $9.5-9.7 billion (2024-25) and employs approximately 18,000-19,700 staff. Several major programs at Stanford are directly relevant to AI safety and existential risk: The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) was co-founded in 2019 by Fei-Fei Li and John Etchemendy. Its mission is to advance AI research, education, policy, and practice to improve the human condition, with a philosophy that AI should be guided by its human impact and designed to augment rather than replace people. HAI has directed more than $50 million in research grants to over 348 faculty members across all seven schools. Key programs include seed research grants (up to $75,000 each), Hoffman-Yee Research Grants (up to $2.5 million over three years), the annual AI Index report tracking global AI progress, the Foundation Model Governance Initiative, and postdoctoral and graduate fellowship programs. HAI is funded through private philanthropy and the HAI Directors Fund, and accepts gifts via Stanford's giving portal. The Stanford Existential Risks Initiative (SERI) was launched in May 2020 and is described as the first American university-affiliated institution dedicated to safeguarding the future of humanity from catastrophic risks. Housed at CISAC, SERI is co-directed by Dr. Stephen Luby and Dr. Paul Edwards, and focuses on four risk categories: advanced AI, pandemics and biosecurity, nuclear war, and extreme climate change. SERI runs a summer fellowship program (10-week, full-time research projects for undergrad and graduate students), an annual symposium, and hosts working groups. SERI has received funding from Open Philanthropy and collaborates with Oxford's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. Stanford AI Alignment (SAIA), an initiative under SERI, runs weekly seminars, upskilling workshops (ARENA), a mentorship program (SPAR), and an inter-university retreat (IBAR) to build the AI safety talent pipeline. The Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) was founded in 1983 out of Vietnam War-era campus activism. It is part of Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and conducts research on nuclear nonproliferation, the AI-nuclear nexus, cyber and autonomous systems, biosecurity, and international norms. CISAC hosts Track II diplomatic dialogues with China, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia, and co-hosts the annual SERI symposium. The Stanford Center for AI Safety (founded 2020) focuses on technical AI safety research across five areas: formal methods, learning and control, transparency and explainability, AI governance and policy, and human-AI interaction. It offers AI safety courses ranging from introductory to advanced levels and provides corporate membership opportunities.