People
Updated 05/18/26Founder and Executive Director
Senior Program Manager
Associate Researcher
Funding Details
Updated 05/18/26- Annual Budget
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Org Details
Updated 05/18/26The Midas Project is an AI safety advocacy nonprofit founded in early 2024 by Tyler Johnston. The organization's name references the King Midas myth, drawing a parallel used by AI safety researchers like Nick Bostrom and Stuart Russell to illustrate the dangers of AI systems that pursue goals with unintended consequences. The nonprofit describes itself as a social movement demanding transparent, ethical, and safe artificial intelligence that benefits everyone. Johnston came to AI safety from animal welfare advocacy, where he worked as a corporate communications specialist at The Humane League and as a corporate engagement research fellow at the Good Food Institute. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Harvard College. Before founding The Midas Project, he received a $35,000 grant from Open Philanthropy to support his career transition into AI policy. He brought the tactic of targeted corporate campaigns, which had successfully pushed food companies to adopt cage-free egg practices, to the AI safety space. The organization launched in mid-2024 with less than $25,000 in funding and volunteer support. It received a $31,000 grant from the Survival and Flourishing Fund in 2024 along with a prior $10,000 SFF Speculation Grant. Johnston has been the only full-time employee, earning approximately $25,000 per year, with the majority of campaign work carried out by unpaid volunteers. The Midas Project's flagship initiative is the AI Safety Watchtower, launched in mid-2024, which tracks 16 companies including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, and xAI, monitoring hundreds of policy documents and web pages for changes. When evidence shows backtracking or inadequate safety controls, the organization documents these gaps and publicly presses for corrective action. In February 2025, it launched the Seoul Commitment Tracker to monitor whether 16 AI companies were fulfilling safety commitments made at the 2024 AI Safety Summit in Seoul, finding that no company earned better than a B-minus grade and six received failing marks. The organization is best known for co-publishing The OpenAI Files in June 2025, a 50-plus-page investigative report produced in collaboration with the Tech Oversight Project. The report documented concerns about OpenAI's governance practices, leadership integrity, and organizational culture based on hundreds of documents, employee testimonies, and media reports. The publication drew significant media attention and led to OpenAI issuing subpoenas to The Midas Project and Johnston personally as part of ongoing litigation with Elon Musk. In January 2026, The Midas Project launched Model Republic, an online publication investigating AI industry lobbying and its influence on public policy, with its inaugural report examining Andreessen Horowitz's policy activities and investment record. The organization has been featured in Fortune, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance, and other major outlets, and Johnston has appeared on the Future of Life Institute podcast discussing OpenAI's treatment of its critics.
Theory of Change
Updated 05/18/26The Midas Project believes that AI companies will not voluntarily maintain adequate safety practices without sustained external pressure and public accountability. Drawing from the animal welfare movement's successful corporate campaign model, the organization's theory of change is that monitoring, documenting, and publicly exposing gaps in AI companies' safety commitments creates reputational and political pressure that drives these companies toward more responsible behavior. By tracking policy changes, grading companies against their own commitments, publishing investigative reports, and engaging with policymakers and media, The Midas Project aims to ensure that safety standards are not quietly eroded as the AI industry races to deploy more powerful systems. The organization also seeks to empower citizens and policymakers with accessible, fact-based information about AI risks and corporate practices, so that development decisions are not made solely by the companies building these technologies.
Grants Received
Updated 05/18/26Projects
Updated 05/18/26An online Watchtower that tracks changes to, and violations of, corporate AI safety policies at major companies and governments, providing a public log of policy edits and potential breaches.
An online publication from The Midas Project that investigates AI lobbying and public policy, with early reporting on how firms like Andreessen Horowitz seek to shape AI regulation and narratives.
A report and public tracker evaluating whether sixteen leading AI companies fulfilled the safety frameworks they pledged to adopt at the 2024 AI Seoul Summit, grading firms on follow-through with their risk evaluation policies.
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