The technical depth to contribute. The civic skills to lead. The humanistic judgment to know what matters. An international program preparing emerging researchers, engineers, civic leaders, and founders to shape AI.
Become a founding partnerThe challenge
Young people are being prepared to adapt to an AI-driven future. To use its tools. To compete in its economy.
At the same time, humanity is losing the race against AI. Speed and capability are outpacing human-centric development and alignment. We are at risk of creating a self-directed superintelligence that cares little for human life. Our politics are broken, international cooperation is lacking, and critical decisions that will impact the next generation are being made by a small number of people in a lab.
We could do more than prepare the next generation to adapt. We could equip them with the skills, judgment, and agency to shape the AI future together.
Technical alignment requires a clear understanding of human ends: what makes a good life, a good society, and a future where we can flourish.
Align the Future pairs rigorous technical and civic training with a shared foundation in the humanities.
The Align the Future model
Apply to one specialty. Build depth with expert mentors, gain exposure across disciplines, and learn to act together.
Everyone · Shared foundation
Moral philosophy, human flourishing, and what AI should serve.
Technical specialty
Investigate live AI safety questions through experiments, model evaluation, and engineering.
Develop fluency in AI safety concepts, tools, and methods. Formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and analyze evidence with expert mentors.
Specialty capstone
A research paper or engineering contribution.
Civic specialty
Turn technical evidence into proposals grounded in democratic and diplomatic realities.
Weigh institutional trade-offs and develop, debate, and defend evidence-based proposals with experienced policy practitioners.
Specialty capstone
An evidence-based policy proposal.
Together · Shared final project
Mixed teams bring technical evidence and human judgment to the same problem.
Where this can lead
We believe the work of aligning AI with human ends will be essential to human flourishing—and foundational to the future economy.
AI safety research, technical development, and the ongoing work of evaluating and aligning deployed systems.
Government offices, think tanks, and nonprofits shaping the institutions and rules that govern AI.
New companies building the tools, infrastructure, and services needed for alignment.
Media, advocacy, and civic leadership that help the public understand AI and shape its direction.
By investing before college, we aim to connect rigorous specialty work with humanistic judgment and an international community. The program complements existing research fellowships and education efforts, building pathways into them and, over time, reaching a broader public. Explore the existing landscape comparison
Team
Align the Future is a growing coalition of educators, entrepreneurs, philanthropic and technology leaders who believe it is not too late for the next generation to take charge of humanity’s future. The effort is currently driven by:
Aaron is a marketing leader with over 15 years of experience at Meta and OpenAI, building global teams and bringing new technologies to billions of users. He now advises purpose-driven organizations on strategy and growth.
Aaron’s consulting practiceJon is an educator and entrepreneur working with philanthropic groups to reimagine education for human flourishing in the age of AI. His experience conducting research at MIT through the Research Science Institute helped inspire this program.
Jon’s backgroundMaybe most importantly, we are both fathers of young kids and dedicated to ensuring they grow up in a world where they can flourish.
We are building toward summer 2027: developing the curriculum and research challenges, establishing a university host and mentor network, and preparing international recruitment.
We welcome institutional partners, research and policy mentors, and philanthropic support.
The summer 2027 pilot depends on funding and institutional partnerships.
Become a founding partner Talk with the team · team@alignthefuture.org