Alignment Research Center is a non-profit Research organization whose mission is to align future human machine learning systems with human interests.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
94¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 1 volunteers and 2 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 4
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $825K a year · 16% of revenue · last 4 filings
Fine: a surplus in 3 of the last 4 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 4 filings
Spent on programs
94%
of spending
Looks good: 94% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$1.3M
to officers and key staff · 15% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 15% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
4 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 4.2 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
3
named funders · $1.8M
Looks good: 3 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$392K
11% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 11% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
2
of 3 voting members
Looks good: 2 of 3 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$5.2M
-48% vs prior year
Spent
$9.1M
To programs
94%
Net assets
$3.3M
By yearFY2021–FY2024
Revenue
$5.2M
FY2024▼ -48%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2021$476K
FY2022$4.5M
FY2023$10.0M
FY2024$5.2M
Expenses
$9.1M
FY2024▲ +44%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2021$153K
FY2022$1.4M
FY2023$6.3M
FY2024$9.1M
Net assets
$3.3M
FY2024▼ -54%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2021$322K
FY2022$3.4M
FY2023$7.1M
FY2024$3.3M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Mar 2022.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

94 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 94% · $8.5M Management & general 6% · $529K Fundraising 0% · $4K

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

11 people listed on the 990; $1.3M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
President
$328,284Pt VII · Sec A
Researcher
$239,060Pt VII · Sec A
Researcher
$200,337Pt VII · Sec A
Researcher
$197,284Pt VII · Sec A
Researcher
$137,366Pt VII · Sec A
Member of Technical Staff
$122,301Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer/Secretary
$94,127Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Jacob Hilton’s $328K as President is at the 90th percentile of top reported officer pay among 363 $1–10M science & technology 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

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022
Mark Xu$197,284$224,851$365,792
Jacob Hilton$328,284$298,652—
Eric Neyman$239,060——
Elizabeth Barnes—$224,576—
Luke Miles—$203,601—
David Matolsci$200,337——
Hannes Hjalmar Wijk—$194,290—
Kyle Scott$94,127$151,507—

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.

See Alignment Research Center executive salaries →

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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

Ensures future human and machine learning systems benefit humanity.

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2 programs · $8.5M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Evaluations (discontinued)

Prior to completing the spin out in may, the evaluations team had a number of achievements including (I) developing and publishing a suite of resources and methodologies for conducting evaluations of ai system autonomy, (ii) expanding the engineering team leading to the publication of an open-source software platform for conducting…

$6.6Mprogram expense
02

The theory team achieved several significant milestones including (I) publishing the first empirical paper on low probability estimation in language models, alongside additional publications on backdoor defense, learnability and obfuscation, and heuristic estimation methodologies, (ii) releasing a unified research vision document…

$1.9Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2024
Every OrgFY2024$133K
Total grants receivedfrom 3 funders$1.8M
See all 3 funders →
Grants paid · 2 grants · $4.7M · 2022–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2022$183,000

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$5.2M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$5.2M
Investment incomeLn 3$36
Money outPt IX
$9.1M
Ln 25
Programscol B$8.5M
Managementcol C$529K
Fundraisingcol D$4K
Owns and owesPt X
$3.3M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$3.2M
Total assetsLn 16$3.7M
LiabilitiesLn 26$392K
PeoplePt VI, VII
11
listed · VII A
PaidVII A7
Voting boardVI 1a3
IndependentVI 1b2
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$5.2M
Investment incomeLn 3$36
Total revenueLn 12$5.2M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$497K
SavingsLn 2$2.7M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$3.2M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$134
Other assetsLn 15$524K
Total assetsLn 16$3.7M
LiabilitiesLn 26$392K
Net assetsLn 32$3.3M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 52
VolunteersI 61
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$7.2M$3.2M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$97K$134
Total assetsLn 16$7.4M$3.7M
LiabilitiesLn 26$277K$392K
Net assetsLn 32$7.1M$3.3M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$4.6M$4.6M
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$435K$393K$42K$520
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$2.3M$2.1M$226K$3K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$78K$48K$31K$98
Payroll taxesLn 10$207K$183K$24K$154
Legal feesLn 11b$73K$14K$59K
Accounting feesLn 11c$58K$58K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$651K$629K$21K
Office expensesLn 13$30K$22K$8K
Information technologyLn 14$111K$88K$23K
OccupancyLn 16$395K$366K$29K$721
TravelLn 17$20K$20K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$20K$20K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$83K$75K$8K
Total functional expensesLn 25$9.1M$8.5M$529K$4K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest Viewing $5.2M$9.1M−$3.8M$3.3M 990 PDF
FY2023 $10.0M$6.3M$3.8M$7.1M 990 PDF
FY2022 $4.5M$1.4M$3.0M$3.4M 990 PDF
FY2021 $476K$153K$322K$322K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $5,219,369 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $10,043,543$5,219,333
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $54$36
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $0$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $10,043,597$5,219,369
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$4,553,935
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $3,479,531$3,060,609
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $2,792,604$1,439,639
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $6,272,135$9,054,183
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $3,771,462−$3,834,814
Part VI · Governance 2 of 3 board members independent, 2 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body3
VI-1b Independent voting members2
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $5,219,369 across 4 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$5,219,333
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$5,219,333
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $36$36
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $36$5,219,369
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $9,054,183 across 14 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $4,553,935$4,553,935
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $392,752 · Management $42,120 · Fundraising $520$435,392
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $2,110,451 · Management $226,330 · Fundraising $2,795$2,339,576
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $47,632 · Management $30,685 · Fundraising $98$78,415
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $182,721 · Management $24,351 · Fundraising $154$207,226
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $13,512 · Management $59,006$72,518
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $57,624$57,624
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $629,171 · Management $21,466$650,637
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $22,097 · Management $8,105$30,202
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $87,860 · Management $22,900$110,760
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $365,559 · Management $28,839 · Fundraising $721$395,119
IX-17 TravelPrograms $20,046$20,046
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $19,744$19,744
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $75,053 · Management $7,936$82,989
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $8,520,533 · Management $529,362 · Fundraising $4,288$9,054,183
Part X · Balance sheet $3,691,533 assets, 12 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $1,031,861$496,728
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $6,169,974$2,666,575
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $6,099$3,756
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $96,644$134
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $28,245$524,340
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $7,411,763$3,691,533
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $277,151$391,735
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $277,151$391,735
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $5,988,612$3,299,798
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $1,146,000$0
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $7,134,612$3,299,798
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $7,411,763$3,691,533
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $3,299,798 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$5,219,369
XI-2 Total expenses$9,054,183
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$3,834,814
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$7,134,612
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$3,299,798

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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