Future of Life Institute

But my position on this is don't build anything that will ever deserve to have rights.

Welcome to the Future of Life Institute podcast.

My name is Gus Docker, and I'm here with Maya Cheetah-Techmark.

Maya is a co-founder of the Future of Life Institute.

Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much.

There was an event recently at which Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon shared the same stage.

It was put on by the Future of Life Institute.

Well, this was funded by the aforesaid cultish Tuscreal people, but that doesn't come out in the coverage.

So the coverage is ignorant and credulous in, I think, dangerous ways.

And so I, and we, because we were all on the executive committee, had access to that wonderful feedback.

And at the time, in twenty sixteen, I think except for maybe the Future of Life Institute, there weren't very many principles out in the world.

So IEEE has this, uh, you know, fame and notoriety and brand affinity, and people responded beautifully to that.

One of the main set of contributions for the feedback that we got, and now, uh, I'm gonna go, uh, uh, to Kay and Raja for this question, is we got a lot of response right away from Japan, from China, uh, from India.

The scientific panel briefs Verkunen on recent incidents, the AI Office investigates OpenAI and Anthropic, and the first harmonized AI Act standard is published.

Welcome to the EU AI Act newsletter, a brief bi-weekly newsletter by the Future of Life Institute, bringing you the latest developments and analyses on the EU's artificial intelligence law.

Heading.

Developments.

Small Businesses Guide.

Everything you need to know for small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, in the EU and beyond.

This newsletter was narrated by Type 3 Audio for the Future of Life Institute.

It was published on October 20, 2026.

In this episode, Tech Policy Press Deputy Editor Ramsha Jahangir examines the latest developments in Europe's AI policy debate, from the push for safe, trusted, and resilient AI to renewed calls for legislation on AI liability.

The head of European policy and research at the Future of Life Institute, Risto Uck, joins Ramsha to discuss the emerging risks in the broader policy landscape.

Ramsha also spoke with a member of the European Parliament, Rando Benifi, about the gaps left by the withdrawal of the proposed AI liability directive, the challenges of assigning responsibility across the AI value chain, and the case for a renewed European approach.

Here's Ramsha.

I'm first joined by Risto Oek to discuss what is happening in Europe's AI policy debate, what these incidents tell us about emerging risks, and what should happen next.

My name is Risto Huck.

I'm the head of European policy and research at the Future of Life Institute.

We are a global nonprofit working on AI governance.

...

Future of Life Institute.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, Jaron Laney-

Exactly.

I think, yeah.

Interestingly organized, I believe, by the Future of Life Institute.

That, that also is part of that big network of funding.

On the other side, we do see AI funders as well.

I noticed that this is in collaboration with the Future of Life Institute, which some people find quite a controversial organization for its kind of AI doomerism and stuff.

What was their involvement in the film?

Well, it's just because they, they, they feature in the film.

Yeah.

And then a corroborating warning from OpenAI, and then a think tank like the Future of Life Institute issues a massive open letter signed by experts.

And then a third-party auditing firm called METR validates the safety concerns.

It looks like a broad independent consensus of experts all arriving at the same terrifying conclusion.

Tell me about Jaan Tallinn.

Right.

The interview points out that a billionaire named Jaan Tallinn, who is deeply embedded in the Tescreal ideology and made his money from Skype, co-founded the Future of Life Institute.

Okay, the think tank.