Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jun 2012.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
90 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
7 people listed on the 990; $632K paid to officers and key staff.
Ruben Bloom’s $211K as Team Lead is at the 61st percentile of top reported officer pay among 360 $1–10M medical research nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Mushkatblat | — | $166,250 | $339,862 | $156,117 | — | — |
| Jacob Lagerros | — | — | $229,135 | $141,141 | — | — |
| Rafe Kennedy | $201,667 | $169,729 | $224,622 | — | — | — |
| Ruben Bloom | $211,430 | $165,236 | $216,358 | $192,670 | $115,367 | — |
| Ben Pace | $133,649 | $149,154 | $185,696 | $210,022 | — | — |
| James Babcock | — | $97,131 | $194,628 | $176,667 | — | — |
| Raymond Arnold | — | $135,000 | $153,391 | $149,474 | — | — |
| Oliver Habryka | — | $93,765 | $151,341 | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Programs and updates
Researching and testing ways to improve human and artificial intelligence.
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Research Activities (lightcone Project)
Our research activities consist of theoretical and empirical investigations by staff, presented in internal colloquia, longitudinal studies, research reports, and more. Most of these occur under the "lightcone" project brand.
Main Workshops & Research
Cfar has performed literature reviews in psychology, cognitive science, and related fields in order to develop a range of mental techniques designed to help improve clarity of thinking and decision-making, and increase internal alignment towards goals.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $980K | $330K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $51 | |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $22.0M | $1.5M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $23.0M | $1.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $22.5M | $955K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $579K | $895K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $77K | $77K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $11K | $11K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $559K | $465K | $94K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $117K | $102K | $15K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $19K | $10K | $9K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $60K | $46K | $15K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $25K | $25K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $18K | $4K | $14K | |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $211K | $208K | $3K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $76K | $76K | $50 | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $25K | $22K | $3K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $222K | $222K | ||
| TravelLn 17 | $8K | $8K | $17 | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $13K | $13K | ||
| InterestLn 20 | $81K | $81K | $142 | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $264K | $264K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $18K | $16K | $1K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $265K | $216K | $49K | $0 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $9K | $9K | $2 | |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $2.1M | $1.9M | $204K | $0 |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $2.4M | $2.1M | $337K | $895K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $6.3M | $10.2M | −$3.8M | $579K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $9.1M | $9.4M | −$320K | $4.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $11.6M | $10.2M | $1.5M | $4.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $4.5M | $3.6M | $879K | $3.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $2.3M | $2.0M | $356K | $2.4M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,414,440 across 15 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $2,077,875 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,850,466 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $895,433 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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