Manifund foxManifund
Home
Login
About
People
Categories
Newsletter
HomeAboutPeopleCategoriesLoginCreate
3

Bridge Funding for the Sydney AI Safety Hub (SASH)

Yanni-Kyriacos avatar

Yanni Kyriacos

ActiveGrant
$5,167raised
$5,167funding goal
Fully funded and not currently accepting donations.

Summary

This bridge funding proposal requests $5,167.00 (USD) to secure the Sydney AI Safety Hub (SASH) space for March and April 2025, while we pursue long-term funding of $31,002 (USD) for a full year of operations. The funds will cover lease costs for a dedicated section within Sydney Knowledge Hub (SKH), with the two-month bridge enabling us to maintain our opportunity while awaiting decisions from the Long-Term Future Fund (March 31) and Future of Life Institute (end of April).

The main objective of SASH is to grow Australia's AI safety community by providing a dedicated space for AI safety-related networking, movement building activities, and productive work. During the bridge period, we'll begin with eight desks, which aligns with our long-term plan to scale as demand grows.

Over a full year of operations, we expect average utilization between 50-75% and anticipate hosting 25-40 AI Safety professionals. Our long-term vision is to establish SASH as the Southern Hemisphere's premier hub for AI safety research and collaboration.

I (Yanni Kyriacos) will lead the project. I am the Co-Founder / Director of AI Safety Australia & New Zealand (AIS ANZ). Our mission is to grow and support a large, ambitious and influential local community focused on preventing the most harmful impacts of AI. We do this by providing them with information, education, networks and advice.

Why open a coworking space?

  1. Foster better coordination within the Australian AI Safety movement. Physical proximity enables spontaneous collaboration, improves information sharing, and creates opportunities for rapid problem-solving.

  2. Establish infrastructure for future government investment. A physical hub provides a clear pathway for government funding and partnership that's distinct from initiatives like a prospective AI Safety Institute (AISI). It demonstrates operational capability and readiness to scale.

  3. Demonstrate credibility and permanence. A dedicated physical space within the Sydney Knowledge Hub:

    1. Shows long-term commitment and financial investment in AI safety

    2. Creates a professional focal point for media engagement

    3. Provides a venue for hosting policymakers and stakeholders

    4. Signals organizational maturity to potential partners

  4. Increase motivation / productivity and talent attraction:

    1. Lower the barrier to entry for independent work by providing professional infrastructure and built-in community

    2. Create an incubator environment for Career Transition Grant recipients and AI safety startups, offering informal mentorship and collaborative opportunities

  5. Professional development: facilitate learning and networking by:

    1. Housing structured learning programs, like the Technical Alignment Research Accelerator

    2. Providing members with technical presentations and workshops from visiting researchers

  6. Create a central hub for community engagement:

    1. Host events and meetups

    2. Conduct stakeholder meetings

    3. Build relationships with local tech and research communities

Why Sydney? Why Australia? 

  1. Why Australia? Strategic timing and policy landscape

    1. Australian governments are actively considering how they will engage with and legislate AI locally and internationally, creating a unique opportunity to establish SASH as foundational infrastructure. While discussions about a potential Australian AI Safety Institute (AISI) are ongoing, positioning SASH now could assist in:

      1. Demonstrating existing AI safety research capacity and community

      2. Creating a proven model for AI safety collaboration

      3. Building relationships with key stakeholders and policymakers

      4. Providing immediate value while complementing any future government initiatives

  2. Why Sydney? Demonstrated market demand

    1. Australia’s two largest AI Safety organisations (Gradient Institute and Harmony Intelligence are based in Sydney)

    2. Strong existing community engagement:

      1. Consistently well attended events in Sydney

        1. AI Safety Forum: 90 attendees (sold out in weeks)

        2. AI Safety Careers Conference (55+ attendees)

          1. Two large sold-out events also demonstrates willingness of interstate participants to travel to Sydney events 

        3. AI Safety Sydney Monthly Meetups: 160+ attendees in last 12 months

    3. Network Effects

      1. Central location for Australian AI safety community

      2. Sydney is a hub for visiting international researchers and speakers

    4. According to AIS ANZ marketing data, Sydney shows the strongest demand for AI safety careers in Australia:

      1. 150+ active newsletter subscribers from New South Wales

      2. 190+ Sydney-based members in relevant community groups 

      3. Dozens of practitioners and aspiring AI safety researchers

Why have SASH inside the Sydney Knowledge Hub (SKH)?

The SKH is a research commercialisation and industry engagement hub housed within the University of Sydney. We’re excited about housing SASH inside of SKH because they’ve demonstrated commitment to incubating the project and helping us grow. Their support extends beyond a traditional landlord-tenant relationship - they view themselves as active sponsors and partners in advancing AI safety work in the region. This commitment is evidenced by:

  1. Historical collaborative relationship with existing AI safety organizations: 

    1. Housing Gradient Institute for 5+ years and Harmony Intelligence for the past 6 months

    2. Hosting Australia’s first AI Safety Forum in November 2024 (organised by Gradient Institute)

  2. Substantial investment: SKH wants to invest ~$100,000 in infrastructure and fit-out costs to creating SASH (the space where SASH could be is currently an empty room. More on this below, under “The Prospective Space”)

  3. Financial partnership: Offering to cover 50% of ongoing operating costs through their sponsorship program

  4. Governance Structure: While SKH manages facilities and operations, SASH maintains full autonomy over membership decisions to ensure cultural alignment

The package SKH has offered is highly cost-effective. For $31,002 USD annually, they're providing:

  1. 8 dedicated desks with flexible usage and standing desk options

  2. Fully equipped collaborative space with meeting areas and storage

  3. Four annual venue bookings (80-100 person capacity)

  4. Comprehensive facilities access including:

    1. Meeting rooms and quiet spaces

    2. Kitchen with upgraded amenities

    3. Lockers

    4. Printing and mail services

Additional strategic benefits include:

  1. Integration with university ecosystem:

    1. More direct access to Sydney Universities researchers and students

    2. Access to commercialization programs (PERIscope Award, Inventor Mentoring)

    3. Connection to broader innovation community

  2. Operational advantages:

    1. Professional facilities management (we will outsource facilities management to SKH)

    2. Built-in marketing through university channels

This partnership would provide SASH with institutional credibility, operational stability, and clear pathways for growth within one of Australia's premier research institutions.

Project Goals & KPIs

  1. Growth Metrics

    1. Welcome ≥ 30 unique members in year 1

    2. Create ≥ 100 unique connections (each new member meets ≥ 4 existing members)

    3. Maintain desk utilization rate of 50-75% ((Total Days Desks Were Used) / (Total Available Desk Days) × 100))

  2. Community Impact

    1. Catalyze ≥ 5 counterfactual collaborative projects or job switches

    2. Improve mental health of community members (see here for more detail on that). 

  3. Member Experience

    1. Quarterly member satisfaction score > 50 NPS

    2. Achieve 90% repeat usage rate (90% of people that use SASH, use it at least twice)

Target Members

  • Phase 1: Launch (Months 1-2)

    • Invite only: Anchor Members (all have confirmed interest)

      • Harmony Intelligence 

      • Gradient Institute 

      • Mileva Security 

      • AI Safety ANZ 

      • Good Ancestors Policy

  • Phase 2: Expansion (Months 3-12). Start marketing SASH and accepting applications from;

    • Independent researchers

    • Returning expats 

    • Local academics and PhDs / research Masters

    • Interstate academics and PhDs / research Masters

    • High prospect ‘career transitioners’

Office Management Structure and Operations

  1. Project Ownership

    1. Official Project Owner: AI Safety ANZ

    2. Project Lead: Yanni Kyriacos

  2. Steering Committee

    1. Core Members

      1. AI Safety ANZ (Yanni Kyriacos)

      2. Gradient Institute representative

      3. Harmony Intelligence representative

    2. Committee Responsibilities

      1. Strategic direction

      2. Membership approval

      3. Community standards maintenance

      4. Conflict resolution

  3. AI Safety ANZ Operational Responsibilities

    1. Community Management

      1. Member application processing

      2. Onboarding new members

      3. Community events coordination / event calendar management

      4. Internal communications

      5. Conflict resolution 

  4. SKH Operational Responsibilities

    1. Infrastructure

      1. Building access and security

      2. Base utilities (power, internet, water)

      3. Building maintenance

      4. Common area cleaning

      5. HVAC systems

    2. Facility Support

      1. Reception services

      2. Mail handling

      3. Basic IT infrastructure

      4. Shared kitchen facilities

      5. Emergency management

    3. Administrative Support

      1. Building insurance

      2. Base level security

      3. Access card management

      4. Visitor management system

      5. Basic marketing support

  5. Programming Support

    1. Access to SKH events

    2. Integration with university programs

    3. Connection to broader SKH community

    4. Event space booking system

The Prospective Space

Please click this link to view images of the space now and how it will be transformed.

AI Safety Track Record

Since May 2024, under full-time leadership, AIS ANZ has achieved significant milestones:

  • Launched and sustained monthly meetups across five cities, engaging 50+ monthly attendees and 160+ unique participants (likely creating > 300 counterfactual AI Safety connections)

  • Organized a sold-out inaugural AI Safety Careers Conference with 15 speakers and 57 attendees, achieving an 88.80% recommendation score

  • Led 70+ career advisory and industry networking calls

  • Established a successful online networking series with high satisfaction scores (76% on average)

  • Established a successful online Q&A series ("Ask The Hiring Manager"), driving high satisfaction scores (78% on average)

  • Launched the region's first technical Safety program: the Technical Alignment Research Accelerator

  • Submitted formal recommendations to government AI safety inquiries

  • Building a team of 10 dedicated volunteers

  • Grown newsletter subscribers from 118 to 401

  • Expanded LinkedIn presence to 496 followers

  • Increased Facebook group membership to 650+

  • Drove peak attendance (23 and 21 participants per online event) for Good Ancestors Policy's public consultation events on AI regulation through targeted marketing campaigns

Comments1Donations1
donated $5,167
RyanKidd avatar

Ryan Kidd

16 days ago

Some of this review is copied from my recent regrant to TARA.

Main points in favor of this grant

  1. I’ve visited several Australian AI safety and EA conferences this year (and for the past 5 years) and I think that the local talent base is quite strong. MATS has accepted ~12 Australian scholars (~4% of all alumni) and they did great! Australians can get work visas for the UK and USA (E-3) relatively easily, which means they can emigrate to the SF Bay Area and London for AI safety work.

  2. I’ve been impressed by Yanni’s operations and marketing ability in regards to TARA, the AI Safety ANZ Careers Conference 2024, and AI Safety ANZ’s recent seminar/workshop series.

  3. Australia might have a role as a "middle-power" between the US and China in facilitating international AI treaties. The Sydney AI Safety Hub and its members might help support the formation of an Australian AI Safety Institute or otherwise support the Australian government and industry bodies in furthering AI safety. Additionally, Australia, as a member of Five Eyes and a NATO partner, might have a role in tracking foreign AGI projects and building international coalitions for AI safety.

  4. I think that physical coworking spaces for AI safety have a strong track record for spawning useful projects (e.g., ARC Evals/METR in Constellation, Apollo Research in MATS London Office/LISA), facilitating talent flow into AI safety organizations, and supporting emerging and independent researchers with a strong community. Sydney has a few AI safety organizations (e.g., Gradient Institute, Harmony Intelligence) about which a hub can form and is proximal to talent sources like Sydney University and Sydney's corporate tech scene.

  5. $5k to secure an office space for two months seems really cheap! I think that $30k for a year of office space is similarly cheap and I would be surprised if this is not funded.

Donor's main reservations

  1. My grant is quite small and will only support the office for two months. AI Safety ANZ will need to secure permanent funding from a larger funder soon.

  2. Sydney University, which is next door to SASH, is ranked 69th internationally for computer science. This is not an impressive ranking relative to the top US or UK universities, many of which do not have nearby AI safety offices (exceptions: AISST office near Harvard/MIT, Constellation/FAR Labs near UC Berkeley, LISA near ICL, the late Trajan House near Oxford). However, I think Australia ought to have an AI safety office given the strength of AI safety talent I regularly see coming from Australia, and Sydney seems like the natural location (though Canberra or Melbourne are also possible, due to their proximity to Seth Lazar's and Dan Murfet's labs, respectively).

  3. It's possible that there is not enough strong talent or new orgs in Sydney to justify an office the size of SASH. To my knowledge, there is no dedicated AI safety research group at the University of Sydney. TARA should bring in some talent, however, and I encourage Yanni to help incubate any new orgs/projects that emerge in SASH.

Process for deciding amount

I decided to fund the entire amount because it's relatively small and AI Safety ANZ urgently needs funding to secure the office space for the next two months.

Conflicts of interest

I am an Australian citizen and have personal and professional ties to Australian AI safety and EA communities. Yanni recently invited me to present at the AI Safety ANZ Careers Conference 2024, although I received no financial compensation. I am an Advisor to AI Safety ANZ, Yanni’s organization, though I receive no financial compensation for this role. This year, I presented at the Australian AI Safety Forum 2024 and I have previously presented at EAGxAustralia 2022 and 2023, for which I received travel and accommodation funding.