“CAIF's mission is to support research that will improve the cooperative intelligence of advanced AI for the benefit of all.”In its own words: cooperativeai.com
A UK charity, funded by a $15 million commitment from Macroscopic Ventures, that funds research on cooperative intelligence and multi-agent safety in advanced AI. It runs grants, PhD fellowships and a $10m Multi-Agent Safety fund.
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Funds research on the cooperative intelligence of advanced AI, choosing work by importance, neglectedness and tractability, and favouring cooperative capabilities over dual-use ones. Funding goes out through time-limited calls (research grants, PhD fellowships, a $10m Fund for Multi-Agent Safety), alongside scholarships, workshops and prizes.
Says it gives about $2.8M a year (FY2025)
Typical grant $151k ($46k–$418k)
On applying “The Cooperative AI Foundation is seeking proposals for research projects in cooperative AI.” cooperativeai.com
Itemised here $4.6M in 22 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
- Closed
Calls have run about yearly; the last PhD fellowship deadline was 16 Nov 2025 and no 2026 call has been announced - Who can apply
- Academics, Individuals, Organisations
Time-limited calls only, posted at https://www.cooperativeai.com/foundation. None are open now: the Fund for Multi-Agent Safety closed 8 Aug 2026, the PhD fellowship last closed 16 Nov 2025 and research grants 18 Jan 2025.
Biggest recipients
- Tobias Gerstenberg and Dorsa Sadigh, Stanford University$500k
- Vincent Conitzer, Carnegie Mellon University$500k
- Christopher Summerfield, University of Oxford$465k
- Natasha Jaques and Sergey Levine, University of Washington and UC Berkeley$450k
- Mithun Chakraborty and Michael P. Wellman, University of Michigan$347k
- Max Kleiman-Weiner, University of Washington$294k
Money from
- Macroscopic Ventures 2024$3M
- Macroscopic Ventures 2025$3M
- Macroscopic Ventures 2023$2.4M
Gifts and pooled money between funders, as recorded on the site.
All grants
22 grants totalling $4.6M, newest first. Recipients link to their own pages; people who received grants without a public profile are shown by number.
2025 8 grants · $1.1M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Christopher Summerfield, University of Oxford | $465k | The Habermas Machine (GBP 366,070) source |
| 2025 | Search for Common Ground, University of Oxford | $280k | Deliberative Technology in Conflict Contexts source |
| 2025 | Michiel Bakker, MIT | $122k | Enhancing Shareholder Democracy Using AI-Mediated Representation source |
| 2025 | Individual #2571 | $94k | Other-Regarding Goals (GBP 74,344) |
| 2025 | Kunal Jha, University of Washington | $65k | Hierarchical Theories of Time and Cooperative AI source |
| 2025 | Sophia Hatz, Uppsala University | $61k | AI Coercive Capabilities: Concepts and Measurements (SEK 639,830) source |
| 2025 | SIPRI | $35k | Governing Risks of AI Agent Interactions to Peace and Security (SEK 373,000) source |
| 2025 | Individual #7549, UC Berkeley | $15k | Strategic Compression for Adaptive Coordination source |
2024 7 grants · $1.9M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Tobias Gerstenberg and Dorsa Sadigh, Stanford University | $500k | ACES: Action Explanation Through Counterfactual Simulation source |
| 2024 | Mithun Chakraborty and Michael P. Wellman, University of Michigan | $347k | Measuring Cooperation Among Competing AI Algorithms source |
| 2024 | Max Kleiman-Weiner, University of Washington | $294k | Emergent Norms for Sustainable Cooperation source |
| 2024 | Ariel Procaccia, Harvard University | $233k | Policy Aggregation source |
| 2024 | Finale Doshi-Velez, Harvard University | $214k | AI for Humanitarian Crisis Negotiation and Beyond source |
| 2024 | Eugene Vinitsky, New York University | $151k | Quick and Safe Adaptation to New Teams source |
| 2024 | Individual #3878 and David Parkes, Harvard University | $140k | Designing Robust Cooperative AI Systems source |
2023 5 grants · $906k
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Natasha Jaques and Sergey Levine, University of Washington and UC Berkeley | $450k | Cooperation and Negotiation in Large Language Models, 2023–2025 source |
| 2023 | Wolfram Barfuss, University of Bonn | $186k | Conceptualising Collective Cooperative Intelligence, 2023–2025 (EUR 172,000 at €1 = $1.08) source |
| 2023 | Dylan Hadfield-Menell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $134k | A Cooperative AI Contest with Melting Pot, 2023–2024 source |
| 2023 | Joseph Halpern, Cornell University | $124k | Integrating Intention Into Cooperative AI, 2023–2025 source |
| 2023 | Individual #4710 | $13k | Scaling Opponent Shaping (GBP 10,000) |
2021 2 grants · $711k
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Vincent Conitzer, Carnegie Mellon University | $500k | Foundations of Cooperative AI Lab (FOCAL), 2021–2025 source |
| 2021 | Jakob Foerster and Christian Schroeder de Witt, University of Oxford | $211k | Machine Learning in Multi-Agent Settings, 2021–2023 (GBP 166,370) source |