“The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale.”In its own words: audaciousproject.org
TED-housed collaborative funding initiative that pools donor commitments behind large projects; in AI safety it has backed METR and RAND AI security work.
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TED's collaborative funding initiative for large, bold projects. Ideas come from a partner and donor network and an open ideas survey, but full applications are by invitation; 8–10 finalists are vetted, developed with Audacious, and pitched privately to donors, who fund them. Organisations need an annual operating budget of at least $2 million.
On applying “Selected candidates will be invited to submit an application.” audaciousproject.org
Itemised here $38M in 2 grants
Money flows
Where its money came from and where it went. Pick years and what to show; hover a box or ribbon for details, click one to focus it, click the background to see everything.
How to apply
- Applications
- Open
Ideas reviewed on a rolling basis; cohorts announced yearly - Who can apply
- Organisations
Share an idea through the open ideas survey at https://www.audaciousproject.org/apply (reviewed on a rolling basis; no deadline since 15 June 2025; not every submission gets a reply). Selected candidates are invited to submit a full application. Organisations need an annual operating budget of at least $2M.
Biggest recipients
All grants
2 grants totalling $38M, newest first. Recipients link to their own pages; people who received grants without a public profile are shown by number.
2024 2 grants · $38M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Oct 2024 | RAND (Center on AI, Security, and Technology) | ~$21M | Project Canary (with METR): AI misuse-potential evaluations; estimate = ~$38M Canary total minus METR's ~$17M (RAND's share not published) source |
| 9 Oct 2024 | METR | $17M | Project Canary (with RAND): frontier AI evaluations; METR's ~$17M share of ~$38M raised through the Audacious Project 2024 cohort source |