Collective Action for Existential Safety (CAES)

Collective Action for Existential Safety (CAES) is an initiative of the Center for Existential Safety, a new nonprofit organization being formed in the United States. The organization was launched in January 2025 by James Norris, its Founder and Executive Director. Norris brings a background of co-founding or helping to build more than 27 organizations across multiple domains and holds a triple major degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He also leads related organizations including the International AI Governance Alliance (IAIGA), Upgradable, and Survival Sanctuaries. CAES is premised on the belief that artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons, engineered pandemics, and soon-to-be-invented technologies pose civilization-scale threats. Its central goal is to catalyze collective action that raises the probability of humanity surviving and flourishing beyond this decade. The organization's primary product is an extensively researched, regularly updated list of 80+ concrete actions that individuals, organizations, and governments can take to improve existential safety. Beyond the action list, CAES facilitates community infrastructure: monthly strategy coordination calls open to leaders of existential safety organizations with at least two full-time staff and at least 50 percent of their resources dedicated to the field; periodic all-hands community calls for anyone working in existential safety; and collaborative safety calls targeted at current or former employees of frontier AI labs, aimed at reducing competitive pressures and fostering a culture of safety. As of early 2025, the organization was actively recruiting co-founders, C-suite personnel, and part-time volunteers, and fundraising for initial operations. The Center for Existential Safety states it will make all donations and financial records public. The organization is at an early stage with a small team.