Recent Articles
Research, updates, and insights from the frontlines of AI accountability.
5
min read
A pro-AI, dark-money group tied to David Sacks appears linked to a new astroturfing campaign
Another round of suspiciously coordinated posting suggests a paid campaign to benefit Innovation Council Action, the $100 million advocacy group fighting for AI deregulation.
5
min read
SpaceXAI just released Grok 4.5. It may have broken California’s AI law in the process.
The potential violation by SpaceXAI, punishable by fines up to $1 million, will serve as an early test of whether California's new AI safety law actually has teeth.
5
min read
A Pro-AI Super PAC's Secret Meme Sockpuppets
An OpenAI/a16z-affiliated super PAC appears to be linked to multiple sockpuppet accounts, attacking and parodying their opponents with lewd and offensive memes.
3
min read
The Midas Project Joins Coalition Warning about xAI’s Track Record in light of SpaceX’s IPO
The Midas Project, alongside a coalition including Encode, Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology, and Guidelight AI Standards, released "xAI: The Unpriced Risk in SpaceX's IPO."
5
min read
Is OpenAI’s super PAC paying for an army of Twitter bots to engage with their content?
The firm at the center of OpenAI and a16z’s political operation seems to be spamming social media with pornographic bots, inflating engagement on their clients’ accounts.
5
min read
Why is Anthropic’s training data disclosure AI-generated?
Anthropic and its peers don’t seem to be taking California’s data transparency law seriously.
5
min read
The reporters at this news site are AI bots. OpenAI’s super PAC appears to be funding it.
An interview request from a bot posing as a reporter revealed an AI-generated news site with articles attacking AI industry critics. For the second time this month, we found links to Targeted Victory, the firm at the center of OpenAI's $125 million political operation.
5
min read
Is this OpenAI’s anonymous Twitter sockpuppet account?
An anonymous account spent months attacking OpenAI’s critics with misleading claims and paid ads. We found links to Targeted Victory, the firm at the center of OpenAI's $125 million political operation.
5
min read
AI companies are testing the limits of their own safety commitments
The companies building the most powerful AI systems aren't following their own rules — and no one is making them.
5
min read
OpenAI made a Pentagon deal overnight. Did anyone ask their safety committee?
A 24-hour Pentagon deal tested a key safeguard OpenAI promised would survive its pivot to for-profit.
5
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Elon Musk is now enabling the autonomous killbots he once said should never exist
xAI’s acceptance of a controversial deal with the Pentagon marks a significant first step towards AI-powered lethal autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance.
5
min read
Utah's AI bill is everything David Sacks asked for. He still wants it dead.
The aggressive campaign against HB 286 contradicts what the White House AI advisor has said about his policy goals.
5
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Another AI bill, another suspiciously coordinated influencer campaign
Weeks after a likely astroturfing effort against the AI OVERWATCH Act, the same playbook is targeting Florida's data center bill.
5
min read
The campaign to derail AI regulation — without talking about AI
Inside the super PAC using crypto's playbook to fight AI regulation.
5
min read
Right-wing pundits suddenly hate an AI bill. Are they getting paid to kill it?
Suspicious similarities in posts from over a dozen conservative influencers including Laura Loomer, Brad Parscale, and Ryan Fournier hint at a coordinated-yet-slapdash effort to stop the AI OVERWATCH Act.
5
min read
Andreessen Horowitz is shaping AI policy — while investing in a bleak vision of the future
The firm’s investment portfolio is full of companies that have exploited legal loopholes, created disturbing products, and broken the law.
3
min read
The Midas Project launches Model Republic, a new publication investigating the AI lobby
The inaugural report examines Andreessen Horowitz's policy influence and investment record.
8
min read
The Midas Project Statement on OpenAI's Restructuring
The Midas Project commends Attorneys General Kathy Jennings and Rob Bonta... but significant concerns remain about whether this restructuring adequately preserves OpenAI's founding commitments to humanity.
1
min read
The Midas Project joins letter calling for investigation into xAI's tolerance for nonconsensual deepfakes
Today, The Midas Project joined a group of 15 organizations calling on state and federal regulators to investigate and enforce laws against xAI.
7
min read
Joint letter requests transparency from OpenAI about its restructuring
A coalition of over 100 Nobel Prize winners, professors, whistleblowers, and public figures have released an open letter calling on OpenAI to answer 7 questions.
2
min read
The Midas Project lodges complaint with IRS over possible OpenAI tax law violations
The Midas Project is a watchdog nonprofit working to ensure that AI technology benefits everybody, not just the companies developing it.
12
min read
How Anthropic’s AI Safety Framework Misses the Mark
Anthropic’s RSP suffers from a lack of credibility caused by last-minute changes, as well as unclear language that makes it difficult for the policy to be understood.
5
min read
"The OpenAI Files" documents a turbulent decade at Sam Altman's nonprofit-turned-tech-giant
We believe OpenAI still has a narrow window to reclaim its mission. Here's how.
3
min read
xAI misses a second, self-imposed deadline to implement a Frontier Safety Policy
Elon Musk's company has said nothing about if and when they plan to implement a full frontier safety policy meeting the standards of the Seoul commitment.
2
min read
Announcing the Seoul Commitment Tracker
Our report reveals that most AI companies are breaking the safety promises they made to the world last year.
4
min read
Scaling, Reasoning, and Unknown Unknowns
The Midas Project is a watchdog nonprofit working to ensure that AI technology benefits everybody, not just the companies developing it.
5
min read
AI Developers Are Bungling Their Dress Rehearsal
Here’s a sobering fact: artificial intelligence today is the worst it will ever be. From here on out, AI will only become more and more capable — and dangerous.
5
min read
How deepfakes threaten democracy — and what you can do to help
The Midas Project is proud to join a coalition of partner organizations calling on tech companies to protect their users from deceptive or misleading synthetic media.
9
min read
What we learned about OpenAI during this week’s Senate hearing
Every month, more and more DC insiders are waking up to the incredible amount of AI progress that may await us in the coming years...
2
min read
Campaign Progress Update: Cognition AI releases new “Acceptable Usage Policy”
We’ve been clear that one of the main risks posed by products like Devin is the fact that it could be abused to generate and spread harmful and/or abusive material including cyberattacks, automated phishing schemes, and spyware.
5
min read
Following the trendlines: The pace of AI progress
If there's one thing to know about the current state of AI development, it's this: Things are moving faster than anyone anticipated.
3
min read
Incentive gradients and The Midas Project’s theory of change
Why start an industry watchdog organization calling out irresponsible AI developers?
4
min read
Which tech companies are taking AI risk seriously?
Which companies have actually implemented any form of a “red line” policy, or have made clear their plans to do so?
6
min read
Magic.dev has finally released a risk evaluation policy. How does it measure up?
Despite the many flaws in version 1.0 of Magic’s AGI Readiness Policy, we think this is a meaningful step forward for the startup. We would like to see more AI startups discuss these risks and implement risk evaluation policies.
3
min read
Why has Cognition fallen behind the industry standard for AI Safety?
Following an investigation from The Midas Project, it appears one startup has chosen to eschew risk evaluation policies in favor of rushing to the market.
5
min read
Why are AI employees demanding a “right to warn” the public?
The need for this letter is, perhaps, emphasized by the fact that many of the employees who signed it only felt comfortable doing so anonymously.
8
min read
How financial interests took over OpenAI
The Midas Project is a watchdog nonprofit working to ensure that AI technology benefits everybody, not just the companies developing it.
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Frequently asked questions
Have more questions? Our team is happy to help, contact us.
We engage in a combination of research, outreach, and public advocacy to ensure that AI companies are meeting public expectations and living up to their past promises, in order to ensure responsible AI development and deployment.
We review technical literature, regulatory guidance, and case studies to distill concrete measures that will meaningfully improve public safety — such as frontier-model risk assessments, red-teaming requirements, and whistle-blower protections — and advocate for the most important voluntary steps that companies can take today to ensure they are acting responsibly.
We also monitor whether companies follow their stated policies and industry norms. When we find evidence of back-tracking or inadequate risk controls, we document it and call for corrective action — mobilizing employees, customers, and civil-society allies until the company adopts the necessary safeguards.
Finally, we publicize our research to inform the public of how AI companies stack up on safety and responsibility. We release our work in the form of scorecards, independent reports, open letters, and long-form writing so that regulators, investors, and the wider public can see how individual developers perform on safety and responsibility.
Various AI experts including Nick Bostrom and Stuart Russell have compared the development of advanced AI to the myth of King Midas.
According to legend, King Midas was once granted one wish by the god Dionysus: that everything he touched would turn to gold. At first, he was thrilled with his new powers. But the King soon discovered that he couldn’t touch food, water, or even his family without instantly turning them to metal. In other words, he got exactly what he wanted in pursuit of immense wealth — and it turned out it wasn’t what he wanted at all.
Much like King Midas, AI companies are now eagerly pursuing incredible wealth and power by developing increasingly powerful AI systems. But ensuring that these systems act in alignment with our values is still an unsolved technical problem. If we misspecify even a single goal for these systems, how will we prevent them from causing an incredible catastrophe – if they follow our instructions at all?
In the words of Stuart Russell, “If you continue on the current path, the better AI gets, the worse things get for us. For any given incorrectly stated objective, the better a system achieves that objective, the worse it is.” The Midas Project exists to ensure that AI companies do not take this extraordinary gamble without public accountability and oversight.
The Midas Project is a nonprofit organization founded in early 2024 by Tyler Johnston. Our work is supported by a small core team and a wider base of volunteers and supporters. We are a nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that relies on donations from the public.
No. One of our central values is being pro-technology.
Progress in technology has improved lives for millions of people around the globe (after all, without it, we wouldn’t have penicillin, air conditioning, or the internet). Artificial intelligence is already being used to help improve medicine, education, and overall living standards. We believe this progress should continue, and we hope AI will be a positive force in the world.
But we may not be on track to realize this future. Without technical breakthroughs, we risk developing powerful AI systems that act against user intent, or can be misused by bad actors to cause tremendous harm. Powerful AI could also concentrate unprecedented power among a handful of AI companies and exacerbate social inequality. To avoid these downsides, AI must be developed with caution, transparency, and public oversight. That’s why The Midas Project is committed to raising awareness about the risks of AI and ensuring that everyone is given a chance to make their voice heard.
If you’d like to get involved, consider signing up for our newsletter, joining as an official volunteer, or making a charitable donation today.
You can email us at info@themidasproject.com, or reach out via the form on our contact page.
