Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a US-based nonprofit founded in 1990 to defend civil liberties as technology shapes society. EFF works through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and the development of privacy tools like Privacy Badger and Certbot. On AI, EFF focuses on preventing algorithmic discrimination, surveillance overreach, and due process violations while protecting innovators' rights to build and experiment with AI systems. EFF is supported by over 30,000 members and a staff of approximately 125 lawyers, activists, and technologists.
Funding Details
- Annual Budget
- $21,853,920
- Monthly Burn Rate
- $1,821,160
- Current Runway
- -
- Funding Goal
- -
- Funding Raised to Date
- -
- Fiscal Sponsor
- -
Theory of Change
EFF operates on a civil liberties theory of change applied to technology: by winning legal precedents, shaping legislation, equipping individuals with defensive tools, and shifting public norms, they create durable structural safeguards against the most harmful uses of technology. On AI specifically, EFF argues that protecting privacy, due process, free expression, and democratic accountability constrains AI-powered surveillance and authoritarian control before these harms become entrenched. Legal victories establish binding rules on how governments and corporations may use AI against individuals. Policy advocacy prevents bad legislation while advancing good frameworks. Technical tools give individuals practical means to resist surveillance. EFF does not focus on speculative long-term existential AI risk but believes that preventing near-term rights violations by AI systems is itself essential to preserving the open, accountable society that makes course-correction on AI possible.
Grants Received
from Open Philanthropy
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Details
- Last Updated
- Apr 2, 2026, 9:59 PM UTC
- Created
- Mar 20, 2026, 2:35 AM UTC