Cari Tuna is taking philanthropy to a new level with the launch of Coefficient Giving, an initiative offering free, research-driven advisory to other major donors—reshaping how wealth is deployed to solve global challenges and mitigate AI risks.
The Genesis of Coefficient Giving: Moving Philanthropy from Passion to Proven Impact
For Cari Tuna, the most urgent question in philanthropy isn’t just how much to give, but where it can do the most good for the greatest number. Together with her husband, Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, Tuna embarked on a radical philanthropic mission starting in 2010: to commit most of their wealth through rigorous, evidence-based giving, bucking the sector’s norm of “follow your passion” advice. The result: more than $4 billion directed to high-impact causes including global health, animal welfare, AI safety, and effective altruism.
What Is Coefficient Giving—and Why Major Donors Should Care
Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy’s advisory arm) now invites other philanthropists to tap into its data-driven process—at no cost. The move formalizes two years of behind-the-scenes advising, which has already enabled outside donors to deploy over $300 million based on the organization’s recommendations.
- Coefficient Giving’s free advice is specifically targeted at major donors with the ambition to address complex, often overlooked issues.
- The goal: Steer more capital toward problems where it achieves “outsized” impact, as judged by rigorous research and analysis.
- Philanthropic partners include both seasoned grant-makers and those new to high-scale giving who seek expert guidance without building massive foundations.
As CEO Alexander Berger explains, the new entity aims to be “a little bit more opinionated about where there are high impact opportunities that a dollar can go especially far,” citing areas such as global health, AI risk, and effective altruism as ongoing priorities.
Rethinking Donor Strategy: From Intuition to Impact Metrics
Tuna’s approach grew out of a realization: Most advice available to wealthy donors was to “give where you feel called.” While valid for personal motivation, Tuna identifies a massive gap this leaves for evidence-based giving. Her approach questions what is actually most urgent and tractable, especially for the world’s most vulnerable. Tuna told interviewers, “Philanthropy will be missing some of the biggest opportunities to help others, especially the most disadvantaged people,” if major donors only follow passion rather than measurable impact.
This philosophy has defined Coefficient Giving and propelled shifts in sector thinking:
- Prioritizing global health over local or emotional causes—because the returns on investment are often exponentially higher for the world’s poorest.
- Championing effective altruism as both a method and a community, reflecting insights from utilitarian thinkers like Peter Singer [AP News].
- Pioneering “cause selection frameworks” to rigorously choose where donated dollars go farthest, based on importance, neglect, and tractability.
Supporting Effective Altruism: Philosophy Meets Pragmatism
Open Philanthropy has not just granted funds—it has shaped major debates in the effective altruism (EA) movement, which emphasizes maximizing the good, even if it means prioritizing life-saving interventions over more symbolic or locally meaningful causes. EA often chooses malaria prevention over food banks or, controversially, has de-emphasized climate and social justice as not optimal uses of resources. Tuna acknowledges that “there isn’t one right answer about how to do the most good,” but insists on tackling the question with analytic rigor.
AI Safety: Why Tech Billionaires Are Betting on Existential Risk
One of Coefficient Giving’s most significant impacts has been its early investment in AI safety. Tuna and Moskovitz’s funds enabled researchers to address the risk that advanced artificial intelligence could pose catastrophic harms. Their $30 million grant to a then-obscure OpenAI in 2017 is now viewed as visionary, given AI’s rapid emergence into public and policymaker concern. To date, the organization has channeled over $580 million into building the field of AI risk research.
In his 2024 progress report, Berger notes this backing was decisive in ensuring that “people with AI experience would have been positioned to help, and policymakers would have been slower to act” without it.
Coefficient Giving is doubling down, especially on the tail risks of AI: scenarios in which AI systems might design new pathogens or otherwise cause catastrophic, widespread harm—a focus articulated in their own AI safety strategy [Open Philanthropy].
User and Donor Community Impact: What Changes for You?
For philanthropists:
- Coefficient Giving opens the door to top-tier, unbiased advisory—helping donors avoid “reinventing the wheel” and pool resources for proven, high-impact global campaigns.
- The service fits those not looking to create vast private foundations, but who still seek sophisticated, customized, and actionable advice.
- Early partners say the approach “lets us have world-class impact without hiring a giant staff or duplicating research,” a key advantage for new high-net-worth donors and technology entrepreneurs.
For developers, technologists, and the AI risk community:
- Coefficient Giving’s model accelerates funding for research into critical areas like AI alignment, safety verification, and safeguards against catastrophic misuse.
- The approach supports building outright new fields—demonstrated by the explosion of AI risk research catalyzed by early, unrestricted grants to OpenAI and others.
- For those working in AI or effective altruism, the continued flow of donor support to difficult, sometimes controversial causes means a larger pool of resources for pioneering solutions.
Analysis: A Transformative Moment for Philanthropy and Tech
Tuna’s bet is bold: actively shaping not just how wealth is spent, but how other donors think about impact. This shift comes at a time when philanthropy is under scrutiny for failing to address root causes and for being too personality-driven. By systematizing advice and opening deep-dive research to outside donors, Coefficient Giving could trigger a new era of transparency, collaboration, and measurable global progress.
Its focus on AI safety, meanwhile, positions it at the frontier of a field whose impact—and risks—are still being discovered in real time. As AI transforms from futuristic potential to everyday reality, Coefficient Giving’s approach is likely to set benchmarks for responsible, future-aware giving.
For those looking to stay ahead of the curve in philanthropy, global impact, or AI risk, following the latest developments at onlytrustedinfo.com offers authoritative, expert-driven analysis far beyond the news cycle.
